Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Global Space Missions and Telescopes in News

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28 April 2020

NASA’s ICESat-2 maps Antarctic ice sheet melting

ICESat-2 

• NASA’s ICESat-2 launched less than three months ago has mapped melting ice sheets in Antarctica and the resulting sea level rise across the globe, which could help improve climate forecasts.
• The ICESat-2 stands for Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 .
• It is measuring the height of sea ice to within an inch, tracing the terrain of previously unmapped Antarctic valleys, surveying remote ice sheets, and peering through forest canopies and shallow coastal waters.
• With each pass of the ICESat-2 satellite, the mission is adding to datasets tracking Earth’s rapidly changing ice.
• As ICESat-2 orbits over the Antarctic Ice Sheet, the photon returns reflect from the surface and show high ice plateaus, crevasses in the ice 20 metres deep, and the sharp edges of ice shelves dropping into the ocean.

Unified Geologic Map of the Moon

• The first-ever digital, unified, global, geological map of the moon was released virtually by the  United States Geological Survey (USGS), NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute.
• The UGM will serve as a blueprint for future human missions and a source of research and analysis for the educators and the general public interested in lunar geology.
• The map is a ‘seamless, globally consistent, 1:5,000,000-scale geologic map’.
• The mapped surface features of the moon included crater rim crests, buried crater rim crests, fissures, grabens, scarps, mare wrinkle ridges, faults, troughs, rilles, and lineaments.

Its’ significance

• The moon’s South Pole is especially interesting because the area is much larger than the North Pole and there could be a possibility of the presence of water in these permanently shadowed areas.
• Further, the South Pole region also contains the fossil record of the early Solar System.
• These present and future moon missions’ success can be further helped by the digital map of the moon.
• The Chandrayaan 2, an active mission also targets the Lunar South Pole for exploration

GRACE-FO Mission

• The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
• GRACE-FO is a successor to the original GRACE mission, which orbited Earth from 2002-2017.
• It carries on the extremely successful work of its predecessor while testing a new technology designed to dramatically improve the already remarkable precision of its measurement system.

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs)

• FRBs are super intense, millisecond-long bursts of radio waves produced by unidentified sources in the space.
• Their discovery in 2007 by American astronomer Duncan Lorimer led to the term ‘Lorimer Bursts’.
• Since then, just a few dozen similar events have been observed in data collected by radio telescopes around the world, building evidence that points to a variety of potential causes.
• Only a handful of emissions have been traced to specific areas of the sky, indicating sources in other galaxies.
• The flash of radio waves is incredibly bright if distant, comparable to the power released by hundreds of millions of suns in just a few milliseconds.
• This intensity suggests powerful objects like black holes and neutron stars could be involved.
• The events were once considered to be largely transient – they seemed to happen once, without obvious signs of a repeat emission. However, a number of such bursts have been identified since then.

Why are they significant?

• First noticed in 2018 by the Canadian observatory the waves have created ripples across the globe for one reason — they arrive in a pattern.
• This gave birth to theories that they could be from an alien civilization.
• Initially, it was believed that the collision of black holes or neutron stars triggers them.
• But the discovery of repeating FRBs debunked the theory of colliding objects.

NASA’s new Mars rover: Perseverance

• The Perseverance rover weighs less than 2,300 pounds and is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
• The rover’s mission will be to search for signs of past microbial life. It will also collect samples of Martian rocks and dust, according to the release.
• The rover will also be tasked with studying the red planet’s geology and climate.
• All of NASA’s previous Mars rovers — including the Sojourner (1997), Spirit and Opportunity (2004) and Curiosity (exploring Mars since 2012) — were named in this way.

2020 CD3

• The mini-moon was discovered by some astronomers at NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona.
• It is actually an asteroid, about the size of a car; its diameter is about 1.9-3.5 m.
• And unlike our permanent Moon, the mini-moon is temporary; it will eventually break free of Earth’s orbit and go off on its own way.
• Orbit integrations indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth.
• 2020 CD3 was captured into Earth’s orbit over three years ago.
• For CSS, it is only the second such discovery. It previously discovered 2006 RH120, which orbited Earth for some time that year, before it escaped in 2007.

NASA’s InSight Mission

• The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport mission is a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars.
• It is the first mission dedicated to looking deep beneath the Martian surface.
• Among its science tools are a seismometer for detecting quakes, sensors for gauging wind and air pressure, a magnetometer, and a heat flow probe designed to take the planet’s temperature.
• The InSight mission is part of NASA’s Discovery Program.
• It is being supported by a number of European partners, which include France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA).

Habitable-zone Planet Finder

• NASA’s Kepler mission observed a dip in the host star’s light, suggesting that the planet was crossing in front of the star during its orbit.
• To confirm, researchers turned to an instrument called Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF). It has confirmed that there is indeed an exoplanet.
• HPF is an astronomical spectrograph, built by Penn State University scientists, and recently installed on the 10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory in Texas.
• The instrument is designed to detect and characterize planets in the habitable zone — the region around the star where a planet could sustain liquid water on its surface — around nearby low-mass stars.
• The newly confirmed planet, called G 9-40b, is the first one validated by HPF. It is about twice the size of Earth and orbits its star once every six Earth-days.

 Betelgeuse

 

• Using the European Space Organization’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have noticed the unprecedented dimming of Betelgeuse.
• It is a red supergiant star (over 20 times bigger than the Sun) in the constellation Orion.
• Along with the dimming, the star’s shape has been changing as well, as per recent photographs of the star taken using the VISIR instrument on the VLT.
• Instead of appearing round, the star now appears to be “squashed into an ova”.

NASA announced it has selected four Discovery Program investigations to develop concept studies for possible new missions.

What are the new missions?

• Two proposals are for trips to Venus, and one each is for Jupiter’s moon Io and Neptune’s moon Triton.
• After the concept studies are completed in nine months, some missions ultimately may not be chosen to move forward.

DAVINCI+

• DAVINCI+ stands for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging Plus.
• This will analyse Venus’s atmosphere to understand how it was formed and evolved, and if it ever had an ocean.
• This will advance understanding of the formation of terrestrial planets.

IVO

• Io Volcano Observer is a proposal to explore Jupiter’s moon Io, which is extremely volcanically active.
• This will try to find out how tidal forces shape planetary bodies.
• The findings could further knowledge about the formation and evolution of rocky, terrestrial bodies and icy ocean worlds in the Solar System.

TRIDENT

This aims to explore Neptune’s icy moon, Triton, so that scientists can understand the development of habitable worlds in the Solar System.

VERITAS

Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy will aim to map Venus’s surface to find out why Venus developed so differently from Earth.

Pale Blue Dot

• The ‘Pale Blue Dot’ is one of the most iconic images in the history of astronomy.
• It shows Earth as a single bright blue pixel in empty space within a strand of sun rays, some of which are scattering from and enlightening the planet.
• The original image was taken by the Voyager 1 mission spacecraft on February 14, 1990 when it was just beyond Saturn.
• At the behest of astronomer Carl Sagan, the cameras were turned towards Earth one final time to capture the image.
• After this, the cameras and other instruments on the craft were turned off to ensure its longevity.

About Voyager 1

• Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977.
• Having operated for more than 42 years, the spacecraft still communicates with the Deep Space Network to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth.
• At a distance of 148.67 AU (22.2 billion km) from Earth as of January 19, 2020 it is the most distant man-made object from Earth.
• The probe’s objectives included flybys of Jupiter, Saturn, and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.

The Family Portrait of the Solar System

• The Pale blue dot image was a part of a series of 60 images designed to produce what the mission called the ‘Family Portrait of the Solar System’.
• This sequence of camera-pointing commands returned images of six of the solar system’s planets, as well as the Sun.

Solar Orbiter (SolO) Probe

• The Solar Orbiter, a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency and NASA to study the Sun, took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
• Carrying four in situ instruments and six remote-sensing imagers, the Solar Orbiter (called SolO) will face the sun at approximately 42 million kilometres from its surface.
• Before SolO, all solar imaging instruments have been within the ecliptic plane, in which all planets orbit and which is aligned with the sun’s equator.
• The new spacecraft will use the gravity of Venus and Earth to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane, passing inside the orbit of Mercury, and will be able to get a bird’s eye view of the sun’s poles for the first time.

Spitzer Space Telescope

• The Spitzer Space Telescope is a space-borne observatory, one of the elements of NASA’s Great Observatories that include the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray.
• Using different infrared wavelengths, Spitzer was able to see and reveal features of the universe including objects that were too cold to emit visible light.
• Apart from enabling researchers to see distant cold objects, Spitzer could also see through large amounts of gas using infrared wavelengths to find objects that may otherwise have been invisible to human beings.
• These included exoplanets, brown dwarfs and cold matter found in the space between stars.
• Spitzer was originally built to last for a minimum of 2.5 years, but it lasted in the “cold” phase for over 5.5 years. On May 15, 2009 the coolant was finally depleted and the “warm mission” began.

Thirty Metre Telescope

• The TMT is a proposed astronomical observatory with an extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become the source of controversy over its planned location on Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii in the US state of Hawaii.
• It is being built by an international collaboration of government organisations and educational institutions, at a cost of $1.4 billion.
• “Thirty Metre” refers to the 30-metre diameter of the mirror, with 492 segments of glass pieced together, which makes it three times as wide as the world’s largest existing visible-light telescope.
• The larger the mirror, the more light a telescope can collect, which means, in turn, that it can “see” farther, fainter objects.
• It would be more than 200 times more sensitive than current telescopes and would be able to resolve objects 12 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope.

Artemis Mission

• In 2011, NASA began the ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun) mission using a pair of repurposed spacecraft and in 2012 the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft studied the Moon’s gravity.
• For the program, NASA’s new rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft a quarter of a million miles away from Earth to the lunar orbit.
• The astronauts going for the Artemis program will wear newly designed spacesuits, called Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or xEMU.
• These spacesuits feature advanced mobility and communications and interchangeable parts that can be configured for spacewalks in microgravity or on a planetary surface.

Bhibha Constellation and Santamasa Planet

Ionospheric Connection Explorer

• NASA has launched a satellite to explore the mysterious, dynamic region where air meets space.
• The satellite — called ICON, short for Ionospheric Connection Explorer — rocketed into orbit following a two-year delay.
• The refrigerator-size ICON satellite will study the airglow formed from gases in the ionosphere and also measure the charged environment right around the spacecraft which is at a level of 580 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.
• The ionosphere is the charged part of the upper atmosphere extending several hundred miles (kilometres) up.
• It’s in constant flux as space weather bombards it from above and Earth weather from below, sometimes disrupting radio communications.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

• The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite missions began on June 18, 2009.
• It is a robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon.
• It studies the Moon’s surface, clicks pictures, and collects data that help in figuring out the presence and possibility of water ice and other resources on the Moon, as well as plan future missions to it.
• The primary mission of the LRO, managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, located in Greenbelt, Maryland, was to measure the entire lunar surface to create a high-resolution 3-D map of the Moon.
• The map with ~50-centimeter resolution images would aid in the planning of future robotic and crewed missions.
• In addition, LRO would map the Polar Regions and search for the presence of water ice

K2-18b

• About 110 light years from Earth, an exoplanet eight times the mass of Earth orbits a star. Called K2-18b, it was discovered in 2015 by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft.
• The researchers used 2016-17 data from the Hubble Space Telescope and developed algorithms to analyse the starlight filtered through K2-18b’s atmosphere.
• The results revealed the molecular signature of water vapour, also indicating the presence of hydrogen and helium in the planet’s atmosphere.
• It resides in a habitable zone — the region around a star in which liquid water could potentially pool on the surface of a rocky planet.
• Scientists have found signatures of water vapour in the atmosphere of K2-18b. The discovery of water vapour is not the final word on the possibility of life.
• That makes it the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System that is known to have both water and temperatures that could support life.

Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment (AIDA)

• It is an ambitious double-spacecraft mission to deflect an asteroid in space, to prove the technique as a viable method of planetary defence.
• The mission, which includes NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), is known as the Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment (AIDA).
• The target is the smaller of two bodies in the “double Didymos asteroids” that are in orbit between Earth and Mars.
• Didymos is a near-Earth asteroid system. Its main body measures about 780 m across; the smaller body is a “moonlet” about 160 m in diameter.
• The project aims to deflect the orbit of the smaller body through an impact by one spacecraft.
• Then a second spacecraft will survey the crash site and gather the maximum possible data on the effect of this collision.

Parker Solar Probe

• It is part of NASA’s “Living with a Star” programme that explores different aspects of the Sun-Earth system.
• The probe seeks to gather information about the Sun’s atmosphere and NASA says that it “will revolutionise our understanding of the Sun”.
• It is also the closest a human-made object has ever gone to the Sun.
• During the spacecraft’s first two solar encounters, the instruments were turned on when Parker was about 0.25 AU from the Sun and powered off again at the same distance on the outbound side of the orbit.
• For this third solar encounter, the mission team turned on the instruments when the spacecraft was around 0.45 AU from the Sun on the inbound side of its orbit.
• It will turn them off when the spacecraft is about 0.5 AU from the Sun on the outbound side.

TOI 270

• It is the name of the dwarf star and the planetary system recently discovered by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).
• TOI 270 is about 73 light years away from Earth, and is located in the constellation Pictor.
• Its members include the dwarf star, which is 40 per cent smaller than the Sun in size and mass, and the three planets or exoplanets (planets outside the solar system) that have been named TOI 270 b, TOI 270 c, and TOI 270 d.
• These three planets orbit the star every 3.4 days, 5.7 days, and 11.4 days respectively. In this system, TOI 270 b is the innermost planet.

About Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

• TESS is NASA’s latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.
• The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light.
• TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth.
• These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star.
• TESS is expected to find thousands of planets using this method, some of which could potentially support life.

Tiangong-2

• Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace”. It was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point, and weighed 8.6 metric tonnes.
• It was launched on September 15, 2016 and, in late 2016, hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days in what was China’s longest manned space mission so far.
• The recently decommissioned space lab followed the Tiangong-1, China’s first space station, which crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018 after Chinese scientists lost control of the spacecraft.
• China had launched Tiangong-1 in 2011 as proof-of-concept of technologies for future stations. The lab was visited by two teams of Chinese astronauts for 11 days and 13 days respectively.

About Hayabusa2

• Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, which successfully made its second touchdown on asteroid Ryugu has become the first ever space probe to gather material from beneath the surface of an asteroid.
• Launched in December 2014, the probe is a follow-up of Hayabusa, which explored the asteroid Itokawa in 2005.
• Hayabusa was the first mission to return an asteroid sample to Earth.
• The asteroid mission first reached Ryugu — a kilometre-wide asteroid, with a relatively dark surface and almost zero gravity — in June 2018 and made its first touchdown on the surface in February 2019.
• A month later the spacecraft hit the surface of Ryugu with a pellet and created a 10-metre-wide crater.
• It also exposed the materials under the asteroid’s surface that were so far protected from the harsh effects of cosmic rays and charged particles of solar wind blasting through space.

About PUNCH Mission

• NASA has selected an US-based Indian researcher to lead its PUNCH mission which will image the Sun.
• PUNCH stands for “Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere,” is focused on understanding the transition of particles from the Sun’s outer corona to the solar wind that fills interplanetary space.
• It will consist of a constellation of four microsatellites that through continuous 3D deep-field imaging, will observe the corona and heliosphere as elements of a single, connected system.
• This is a landmark mission will image regions beyond the Sun’s outer corona.
• The Sun and the solar wind are one interconnected system, but these have until recently been studied using entirely different technologies and scientific approaches.

• Scientists in South Africa have launched the world’s first optical telescope linked to a radio telescope, combining “eyes and ears” to try to unravel the secrets of the universe.
• The latest move combines the new optical telescope MeerLITCH — Dutch for ‘more light’ — with the recently-completed 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, located 200 kilometres away.
• This is the eye, with the MeerKAT being the ears as a radio telescope.
• The MeerLITCH uses a main mirror just 65 cm in diameter and a single 100 megapixel detector measuring 10 cm x 10 cm.
• Astronomers have previously had to wait for a cosmic incident to be picked up by a radio telescope and then carry out optic observations afterwards.
• The project has been six years in the making by a joint-team of South African, Dutch and British scientists.

Ultima Thule

• NASA has found evidence for a unique mixture of methanol, water ice, and organic molecules on Ultima Thule’s surface — the farthest world ever explored by mankind.
• Ultima Thule is a contact binary, with two distinctly differently shaped lobes.
• At about 36 kilometres long, it consists of a large, strangely flat lobe — nicknamed “Ultima” — connected to a smaller, somewhat rounder lobe — dubbed “Thule” — at a juncture.
• Officially named (486958) 2014 MU69, it earned the nickname Ultima Thule following a public contest in 2018.
• It is located in the Kuiper Belt, a disc in the outer Solar System (beyond Neptune) that consists of small bodies including Pluto.
• 2014 MU69 was discovered in June 2014 by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope but is so distant that many of its characteristics remain to be understood.

About the mission

• New Horizons, a space probe that was launched in 2006, became the first mission to visit Pluto in 2015.
• Travelling farther into the Kuiper Belt, the nuclear-powered space probe has come within 3,500 km of Ultima Thule.
• Images taken revealed that the object may have a shape similar to a bowling pin, or a “snowman”, or a peanut spinning end over end, or could be two objects orbiting each other.
• Flyby data showed that Ultima Thule is spinning like a propeller with the axis pointing approximately toward New Horizons.
• NASA released a composite of two images taken by New Horizons’ high-resolution Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager.

Chang’e-4

• In January, the Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-4 — named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology — became the first ever craft to touch down on the far side of the lunar surface.
• The team landed its probe in the Von Karmen Crater in the Aitken Basin at the Moon’s south pole — home to one of the largest impact craters known in the solar system.
• Scientists have said they could be a step closer to solving the riddle behind the Moon’s formation, unveiling the most detailed survey yet of the far side of Earth’s satellite.

Cassini Mission

• Launched in 1997, the Cassini mission is a cooperation between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
• It has sent back thousands of stunning images and made numerous discoveries about the ringed planet and its moons.
• Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn.
• Cassini is the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter orbit. Its design includes a Saturn orbiter and a lander for the moon Titan.
• The lander, called Huygens, landed on Titan in 2005.

China’s BeiDou navigation satellite, a rival to US GPS, starts global services

• China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), touted as a rival to the widely-used American GPS, has started providing global services.

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)

• Named after the Chinese term for the ‘Big Dipper’, the BeiDou system started serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.
• It will be the fourth global satellite navigation system after the US GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.
• The positioning accuracy of the system has reached 10 metres globally and five metres in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Its velocity accuracy is 0.2 metres per second, while its timing accuracy stands at 20 nanoseconds, he said.
• Pakistan has become the first country to use the BeiDou system ending its reliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS).

GRAPES-3 Experiment

• For the first time in the world, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014.
• GRAPES-3 (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.
• It aims to probe acceleration of cosmic rays in the following four astrophysical settings.
• It is located at Ooty in India and started as a collaboration of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India and the Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan.

Asteroid ‘99942 Apophis’

• On April 13, 2019, a near-Earth asteroid will cruise by Earth, about 31,000 km above the surface.
• The asteroid, called 99942 Apophis, is 340 m wide.
• At one point, it will travel more than the width of the full Moon within a minute and it will get as bright as the stars in the Little Dipper, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• It is rare for an asteroid this size to pass by Earth so close.
• Although scientists have spotted small asteroids, on the order of 5-10 metres, flying by Earth at a similar distance, asteroids the size of Apophis are far fewer in number and so do not pass this close to Earth as often.
• Among potential lessons from Apophis, scientists are hoping they can use its flyby to learn about an asteroid’s interior.
• Apophis is one of about 2,000 currently known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, and scientists also hope their observations might help gain important scientific knowledge that could one day be used for planetary defence.

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Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Important British Commissions and Committees

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27 April 2020 

Hartog Commission – 1929

• Sir Philip Joseph Hartog committee was appointed by the British Indian government to survey on the growth of education in India.
• The Hartog committee 1929, had devoted more attention to mass education than the secondary and University education.
• The Hartog committee highlighted the problem of wastage and stagnation in education at the primary level.
• It recommended the policy of consolidation instead of multiplication of schools. The duration of the primary course was to be fixed to four years.
• It recommended for the improvements in quality, pay, and service conditions of teachers and relating the syllabus and teaching methods to the local environment of villages and locality
• The Hartog committee on education recommended for the promotion of technical and commercial education by universities to control the problem of unemployment.
• The recommendation of the Hartog committee of 1929 was an attempt for consolidation and stabilization of education. The Hartog committee of 1929 was seen as a torchbearer of the government’s effort to improve the quality of education.
• However, these recommendations of Hartog committee of 1929 remained only on paper and could not be implemented due to the great economic depression of 1930-31.

Sargent Plan – 1944

• The Sargent plan of education came after Sir John Sargent was given the task to prepare a comprehensive scheme of education for India in 1944 and he made the following recommendations:
• Pre-primary education for children between 3 to 6 years of age.
  Universal, compulsory and free primary or basic education for all children between the ages 6—11 (junior basic) and 11—14 (senior basic).
• High school education for six years for selected children between the years 11—17.
• Degree course for three years beginning after the higher secondary examination for selected students
• Technical, commercial, agricultural and art education for full time and part-time students, girls schools are to teach domestic science.
• The liquidation of adult illiteracy and the development of a public library system in about 20 years.
• Full provision for the proper training of teachers.
• Educational provision is made for the physically and mentally handicapped children.
• The organisation of compulsory physical education.
• Provision be made for social and recreational activities.
• The creation of employment bureaus.
• The creation of the Department of Education in the centre and in the states.
• The use of mother tongue is to be used as the medium of instruction in all high schools.

Famine Commissions during British Rule in India

Campbell Commission

• In 1865-66, a famine engulfed Orissa, Bengal, Bihar, and Madras and took a toll of nearly 20 lakhs of lives with Orissa alone loosing 10 lakh lives, since the famine was most severe in Orissa; it is called the Orissa famine.
• The Government officers though forewarned took no steps to meet the calamity.
• The Government adhered to the principles of free trade and the law of demand and supply, the Government did provide employment to the table booked men leaving the work of charitable relief to the voluntary agency.
• But the famine proved a turning point in the history of Indian famines for it was followed by the appointment of a committee under the chairmanship of Sir
  George Campbell.

Stratchy Commission

• It was set up in 1878 under the Chairmanship of Sir Richard Strachey.
• The commission recommended state interference in food trade in the event of famine. India witnessed another major famine in 1896-97.

Lyall Commission

• It was constituted in 1897 under the Chairmanship of Sir James Lyall. This commission recommended the development of irrigation facilities.

MacDonnell Commission

• It was set up in 1900 under the Chairmanship of Sir Anthony (Later Lord) McDonnel to re-evaluate and recommend changes in report of the previous commission, based on the findings of the recent famine.
• This Commission recommended that the official machinery dealing with a famine must work around the year so that the scarcity of food grains could be controlled well in time.

Law Commission

• Law Commissions in India have a pre-independence origin. The first Law Commission was formed in 1834 as a result of the Charter Act, 1833 under the chairmanship of TB Macaulay.
• The first commission’s recommendations resulted in the codification of the penal code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
• Three other law commissions were constituted before independence by the British government.
• All four pre-independent law commissions have contributed to the statute books immensely.
• After independence, the first Law Commission was constituted in 1955 in a continuance of the tradition of bringing law reforms in the country through the medium of law commissions.
• Second Pre-Independence Law Commission,1853 – Sir John Romilly.
• Third Pre-Independence Law Commission, 1862- Sir John Romilly.
• Fourth Pre-Independence Law Commission, 1879 – Dr Whitley Stokes.

Currency Commission

Mansfield Commission by Dufferin in 1886

• The Indian Currency Committee or Fowler Committee was a government committee appointed by the British-run Government of India on 29 April 1898 to examine the current situation in India.
• Until 1892, silver was the metal on which Indian currency and coinage had largely been based. In 1892, the Government of India announced its intent to “close Indian mints to silver” and, in 1893, it brought this policy into force.

Other Commissions on Currency:

• Fowler Commission by Elgin II in 1898
• Babington Smith Commission by Chelmsford in 1919
• Hilton Young Commission by Linlithgow in 1926

Other Important Commissions

• Scott-Moncrieff Commission (Irrigation) by Curzon in 1901
• Fraser Commission (Police Reforms) by Curzon in 1902
• Hunter Commission (Punjab Disturbances) by Chelmsford 1919
• Butler Commission (Indian States relation with British Crown) by Irwin in 1927
• Whiteley Commission (Labour) by Irwin in 1929
• Sapru Commission (Unemployment) by Linlithgow in 1935
• Chalfield Commission (Army) by Linlighgow 1939
• Floud Commission (Tenancy in Bengal) by Linlighgow in 1940

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Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Important International Economic Organizations

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25 April 2020 

Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

• Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – is an intergovernmental organization of central banks which “fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks.”
• It is not accountable to any national government.
• The mission of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is to serve central banks in their pursuit of monetary and financial stability, to foster international cooperation in those areas and to act as a bank for central banks.
• The Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS), while technically separate from the BIS, is a closely associated international forum for financial regulation that is housed in the BIS’ offices in Basel, Switzerland
• The BCBS is responsible for the Basel Accords, which recommend capital requirements and other banking regulations that are widely implemented by national governments.
• The BIS also conducts research on economic issues and publishes reports.

European Central Bank (ECB)

• The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank responsible for monetary policy of those European Union (EU) member countries which have adopted the euro currency.
• This region is known as the eurozone and currently comprises 19 members.
  The principal goal of the ECB is to maintain price stability in the euro area, thus helping preserve the purchasing power of the euro.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It has been responsible for monetary policy in the Euro area since January 1, 1999.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank of the combined Eurozone.
• The ECB coordinates EU monetary policy, including setting the region’s target interest rates and controlling the supply of the Euro common currency.
• The ECB’s primary mandate is to achieve price stability through low inflation.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the inter-governmental organisation established to stabilize the exchange rate in the international trade.
• It helps the member countries to improve their Balance of Payment (BOP) condition thorough the adequate liquidity in the international market, promote the growth of global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade.
• It is one of the Bretton woods twins, which came into existence in 1945, is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries that make up its near-global membership.

Objectives of IMF:

• To promote international monetary co-operation.
• To ensure balanced international trade
• To ensure exchange rate stability
• To eliminate or to minimize exchange restrictions by promoting the system of multilateral payments.
• To grant economic assistance to members countries for eliminating the adverse balance of payment
• To minimize the imbalances in quantum and duration of international trade.

IMF Quota & Voting Rights

• Quotas was assigned to member countries reflecting their relative economic power & credit deposit to IMF
• Subscription was to be paid 25% in gold or currency convertible into gold (effectively the dollar, which was the only currency then, still directly gold convertible for central banks) and 75% in the member’s own currency
• Members were provided voting rights in proportion to their quota, hence member countries with higher quota have a higher say at IMF

Special Drawing Rights

• Special drawing rights (SDRs) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• SDR is not a currency, instead represents a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged.
• The value of an SDR is defined by a weighted currency basket of four major currencies: the US dollar, the euro, the British pound, the Chinese Yuan and the Japanese yen
• The central bank of member countries held SDR with IMF which can be used by them to access funds from IMF in case of financial crises in their domestic market

Reverse Tansche

• A certain proportion of a member country’s quota is specified as its reserve tranche.
• The member country can access its reserve tranche funds at its discretion and is not under an immediate obligation to repay those funds to the IMF.
• Member nation reserve tranches are typically 25% of the member’s quota.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an inter-governmental organization founded in 1961 to accelerate economic progress and world trade.
• It is a very unique organization where 34 Democracies work together with market economies and 70 non-member economies promote economic growth, prosperity, and sustainable development.
• The setting of the OECD reflects the peripheral discussion forum based on the policy research and analysis that helps governments in order to shape their policies that may lead to a formal agreement among member governments or be acted on in domestic or other international stages.
• Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
• The OECD headquarters at Paris, France. The OECD is funded by contributions from member states.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

• The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964. It is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations Generally Assembly for promoting the development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy.
• UNCTAD grew from the view that existing institutions like GATT (now WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank were not properly organized to handle the particular problems of developing countries.

Functions of UNCTAD

• UNCTAD Objective is to maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.
• It functions as a forum for intergovernmental deliberations, supported by discussions with experts and exchanges of experience, aimed at consensus building.
• It undertakes research, policy analysis and data collection for the debates of government representatives and experts.
• It provides technical assistance tailored to the specific requirements of developing countries, with special attention to the needs of the least developed countries and of economies in transition.

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)

• The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) serves as the United Nations’ regional hub promoting cooperation among countries to achieve inclusive and sustainable development.
• Established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand.
• The largest regional intergovernmental platform with 53 Member States and 9 associate members, ESCAP has emerged as a strong regional think-tank offering countries sound analytical products that shed insight into the evolving economic, social and environmental dynamics of the region.
• The Commission’s strategic focus is to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is reinforced and deepened by promoting regional cooperation and integration to advance responses to shared vulnerabilities, connectivity, financial cooperation and market integration.
• ESCAP’s research and analysis coupled with its policy advisory services, capacity building and technical assistance to governments aims to support countries’ sustainable and inclusive development ambitions

UN-ESCAP providing results-oriented projects, technical assistance and capacity building to member States in the following areas:

• Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Reduction and Financing for Development
• Trade, Investment and Innovation
• Transport
• Environment and Development
• Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction
• Social Development
• Statistics
• Subregional activities for development
• Energy

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN’s five regional commissions, ECA’s mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa’s development.
• Made up of 54 member States, and playing a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape, ECA is well-positioned to make unique contributions to address the Continent’s development challenges.
• ECA’s strength derives from its role as the only UN agency mandated to operate at the regional and subregional levels to harness resources and bring them to bear on Africa’s priorities. T
• o enhance its impact, ECA places a special focus on collecting up to date and original regional statistics in order to ground its policy research and advocacy on clear objective evidence; promoting policy consensus; providing meaningful capacity development; and providing advisory services in key thematic fields.

ECA’s thematic areas of focus are as follows:

Macroeconomic Policy
Regional Integration and Trade
Social Development
Natural Resources
Innovation and Technology
Gender
Governance
Statistic

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

• The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was set up in 1947 by ECOSOC. It is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations.
• UNECE’s major aim is to promote pan-European economic integration. UNECE includes 56 member States in Europe, North America and Asia. However, all interested United Nations member States may participate in the work of UNECE. Over 70 international professional organizations and other non-governmental organizations take part in UNECE activities.
• Providing legal frameworks and assistance activities through instruments like the UNECE Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
• Developing expertise and policy solutions in areas such as resource efficiency, environmental performance, environmental democracy, sustainable transport, sustainable energy, sustainable housing, green real estate markets, and sustainable forest products.
• Measuring sustainable development and improving capacities for environmental monitoring and assessment.
• Encouraging eco-innovations and green investment.
• Raising awareness to change behavioral patterns towards sustainable consumption and production, for example through the UNECE Strategy for
• Education for Sustainable Development.
• Developing green standards, for example the standards for cleaner and smarter vehicles developed by the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.
• The Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets, 1975 (TIR Convention) is an international customs transit system under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
• India has become the 71st nation to join the United Nations TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) Convention.

World Bank Group

• The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries.
• It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group.
• Its five organizations are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The World Bank (IBRD)

• IBRD provides loans and other assistance primarily to middle income and poor but creditworthy countries at interest rates slightly lower than that offered by other financial institutions but with long term maturity<countries which have the capacity to repay the loan amount with interest>

Origins: IBRD, as the name suggests, was created in 1944 to help Europe reconstruct/ rebuild after World War II. To be a member of IBRD, a country has t join IMF first.

Main function:

• Long-term capital assistance to its member-countries for their reconstruction and development
• It works closely with the rest of the World Bank Group to help developing countries reduce poverty, promote economic growth, and build prosperity.

Other functions of IBRD Bank –

• Supports long-term human and social development that private creditors do not finance.
• Preserves borrowers’ financial strength by providing support in times of crisis, when poor people are most adversely affected
• Promotes policy and institutional reforms (such as safety net or anti-corruption reforms)
• Creates a favourable investment climate to catalyze the provision of private capital
• Facilitates access to financial markets often at more favorable terms than members can achieve on their own
• Resources of the Bank consist of the capital and borrowings.

 

International Development Association

• The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank group that helps the world’s poorest countries.
• Overseen by 173 shareholder nations, IDA aims to reduce poverty by providing loans (called “credits”) and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people’s living conditions.
• IDA complements the World Bank’s original lending arm—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). IBRD was established to function as a self-sustaining business and provides loans and advice to middle-income and credit-worthy poor countries.
• IBRD and IDA share the same staff and headquarters and evaluate projects with the same rigorous standards.
• IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 771 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa, and is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services in these countries.
• IDA lends money on concessional terms. This means that IDA credits have a zero or very low-interest charge and repayments are stretched over 25 to 40 years, including a 5- to 10-year grace period. IDA also provides grants to countries at risk of debt distress.
• In addition to concessional loans and grants, IDA provides significant levels of debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).
• IDA’s work covers primary education, basic health services, clean water and sanitation, agriculture, business climate improvements, infrastructure, and institutional reforms.

IFC

Largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries established in 1956

Objectives of the IFC

• To further economic development by encouraging the growth of private enterprise in member-countries
• Invests in private enterprise in member-countries in association with private investors and without a Government guarantee, in cases where sufficient private capital is not available on reasonable terms
• Seeks to bring together investment opportunities, private capital of both foreign and domestic origin, and experienced management
• Stimulates conditions conducive to the flow of private capital – domestic and foreign – into productive investments in member-countries
• IFC investment normally does not exceed 40% of the total investment of the enterprise.
• In case of its investment by equity participation, it does not exceed 25% of the share capital.

IFC and India

• IFC makes strategic investments and advisory interventions to promote inclusive growth, help address climate change impacts, and encourage global and regional integration
• In India, IFC is sharpening its focus on increasing access to energy, finance and healthcare; providing the sustainable infrastructure; and boosting regional linkages

Focus Areas –

Building infrastructure
Facilitating renewable energy generation
Promoting cleaner production, energy and water efficiency
Supporting agriculture for improved food security
Creating growth opportunities for small businesses
Helping reform investment climate

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

• It is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. Such guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against political and non-commercial risks in developing countries.
• MIGA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1988 as an investment insurance facility to encourage confident investment in developing countries.
• MIGA’s stated mission is “to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives”. It targets projects that endeavour to create new jobs, develop infrastructure, generate new tax revenues, and take advantage of natural resources through sustainable policies and programs.
• MIGA is owned and governed by its member states, but has its own executive leadership and staff which carry out its daily operations. Its shareholders are member governments which provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters.
• It ensures long-term debt and equity investments as well as other assets and contracts with long-term periods. The agency is assessed by the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group each year.

International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

• It encourages the flow of foreign investment to develop countries through arbitration and conciliation facilities
• Except for ICSID, India is a member of the other four groups <We don’t like external interference such as arbitration in our decision-making process, hence not the member of ICSID>

Let’s revise World Bank in brief

Name	Main Function	Comment
IBRD (WB)	Infrastructure loan to poor middle income but credit worthy countries at just below market rates	India founder member, largest recipient of loan
IDA	Soft loan at virtually zero rate for poverty eradication to poorest countries	India founder largest recipient, has crossed the per capita threshold for funding but will continue to receive IDA funds
IFC	Private sector arm of WB group, supports private enterprises in developing countries	India founder, IFC launched India’s offshore masala bond
MIGA	Provide a guarantee to investors against non-commercial political risk	India not a founding member
ICSID	Resolve disputes through arbitration and conciliation	India not a member

World Trade Organization (WTO)

• The WTO is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations.
• The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994.
• It replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
• It is the largest international economic organization in the world.

Functions of WTO

• The WTO deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between participating countries.
• It provides a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.

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Constitutional Developments under British/ British Administrative Measures

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24 April 2020 

In India, the British Government passed various laws and acts before the formulation of the constitution. The Regulating Act of 1773 was enacted as a first step to regulate the working of East India Company. However, the Indian Independence Act, 1947 finally ended the British rule in India and declared India as an independent and sovereign nation with effect from August 15, 1947.

The Regulating Act of 1773

• The Regulating Act of 1773 was enacted as a first step to regulate the working of East India Company
• The Gov of Bengal was made Gov General of Bengal. He was assisted by 4 people. This 4+1 becomes became Supreme Council of Bengal also known as the GG’s Exec Council.
• A Supreme Court was established in Bengal comprising of a chief justice and three other judges

Pitts’s India Act, 1784

• We see a shrinking of the Council from 4 members to 3 members. Hence 3+1 is the renewed GG’s Executive Council.
• Board of control was established to control the civil, military and revenue affairs of the company
• The Court of Proprietors was no more empowered to revoke or suspend the resolution of the directors approved by the Board of Control.

Charter Act of 1833

• The Governor-General of Bengal was made the Governor-General of India. The first Governor-General of India was William Bentinck.
• He was given legislative powers over entire India including the Governors of Bombay and Madras.
• The company lost the status of a commercial body and was made purely an administrative body.
• This Act. was the first law to distinguish between the executive and legislative powers of the Gov General.
• A 4th member was introduced who could only discuss and vote only on the legislative matter.
• Council of India = [(3+1) +  1(4th member also called the Law Member)]
• The first such Law Member was Macaulay. This Council of India was, to a certain extent, the Legislature. Strength of the Executive remained 3+1 .

Charter Act of 1853

• From here on, we see a gradual increase in the membership of the Council and further separation of powers.
• Access to compete in civil services for Indians.
• It brought out the separation in the legislative and executive functions of the Governor-General’s council.
• The 4th member (Law Member)was included as a full-time Member in the GG’s Executive Council. His position was taken by 6 Members referred to as Legislative Councillors.
• Council of India = [(4+1) + 6(Legislative Councillors) + 1 Commander-in-Chief]
• 6 Councillors were,
  1. 1 Chief Judge of SC of Calcutta.
  2. 1 Judge of SC of Calcutta
  3. 4 members of the ICS

Government of India Act, 1858

• India was to be governed by and in the name of the crown through Viceroy, who would be the representative of the crown in India.
• The designation of Governor-General of India was changed to Viceroy. Thus, Governor-General Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India
• Board of Control and Board of directors were abolished transferring all their powers to British Crown
• A new office ‘secretary of state was created with a 15 member council of India to assist him. Indian Councils Act, 1861
• The major focus of the act was on administration in India. It was the first step to associate Indians to legislation.
• The act provided that the viceroy should nominate some Indians as non-official members in the legislative council.
• The legislative powers of Madras and Bombay presidencies were restored.
  It provided for the establishment of legislative councils for Bengal, North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and Punjab.
• Viceroy was empowered to issue ordinances during an emergency without the concurrence of the legislative council.

Indian Councils Act of 1861

• After 1861, the Council was called Imperial Legislative Council(ILC) or Indian Legislative Council(ILC). The Executive was further enhanced by 1 member.
• The Viceroy now had the power to Nominate 6 – 12 Non-Official members in the Legislature who would be holding the office for 2 years.
• ILC = [(5+1) + (Additional Members -> Minimum 6, Maximum 12)]
• The composition of Additional Members was as follows:
  1. 50% Nominated Official Members
  2. 50% Nominated Non-Official Members
• The Act thus sowed the seed for the future Legislative as an independent entity separate from the Executive Council.

Indian Councils Act of 1892 

• Due to the excessive demand of the Congress, the Additional Members were increased. Additional Members -> Minimum 10, Maximum 12.
• ILC = [(5+1) + (Additional Members -> Minimum 10, Maximum 16)]

The composition of Additional Members was as follows:

• Nominated official members (those nominated by the Governor-General and were government officials)
• 5 Nominated Non-Officials (nominated by the Governor-General but were not government officials)
• 4 Nominated by the Provincial Legislative Councils of Bengal Presidency, Bombay Presidency, Madras Presidency and North-Western Provinces.
• 1 Nominated by the Chamber of Commerce in Calcutta.

Indian Councils Act of 1909: The Morley-Minto reforms

• It introduced for the first time the method of election.
• The additional members of the Governor-General Council were increased from 16 to a maximum of 60.
• The composition of Additional Members was as follows:
  1. Nominated official members (those nominated by the Governor-General and were government officials)
  2. Nominated non-official members (nominated by the Governor-General but were not government officials)
  3. Elected Members (elected by different categories of Indian people)
• It provided for the association of Indians in the executive council of the Viceroy and Governors. Satyendra Prasad Sinha joined the Viceroy’s executive council as a law member.
• It introduced Separate Electorate for Muslims.

Indian Councils Act of 1919: The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms

• Central Legislature thereafter called the Indian Legislature was reconstituted on the enlarged and more representative character.
• The act set up bicameral legislatures at the centre consisting of two houses- the Council of the States (Upper House) and the Central Legislative Assembly (Lower House).
• It consisted of the Council of State consisted of 60 members of whom 34 members were elected and the Legislative Assembly consisted of about 145 members, of whom about 104 were elected and the rest nominated.
• Of the nominated members, about 26 were officials.  The powers of both the Chambers of the Indian Legislature were identical except that the power to vote supply was granted only to the Legislative Assembly.
• The central and provincial subjects were demarcated and separated.
• The Provincial subjects were further divided into Transferred Subjects and Reserved Subjects, the legislative council had no say in the latter. This was known as the system of Diarchy.
• The principle of separate electorate was further extended to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
• It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to report the working of the act after ten years

The Government of India Act 1935

• It marked the next great stride in the evolution of the Legislatures.
• The Federal Legislature was to consist of two Houses, the House of Assembly called the Federal  Assembly and the Council of States.
• The Federal Assembly was to consist of 375 members, 250 to represent Provinces and 125 to represent the Indian States, nominated by the Rulers.
• The representatives of the Provinces were to be elected not directly but indirectly by the Provincial Assemblies.
• The term of the Assembly was fixed as five years.
• The Council of State was to be a permanent body not subject to dissolution, but one-third of the members should retire every three years.
• It was to consist of 260 members.  104 representatives of Indian States, six to be nominated by the Governor-General, 128 to be directly elected by territorial communal constituencies and 22 to be set apart for smaller minorities, women and depressed classes.
• The two Houses had in general equal powers but demands for supply votes and financial Bills were to originate in the Assembly.
• The principle of Separate Electorate was extended to depressed classes, women and workers.
• Provided for the formation of Reserve bank of India

Indian Independence Act, 1947

• The act formalized the Lord Mountbatten Plan regarding the independence of India on June 3, 1947.
• The Act ended the British rule in India and declared India as an independent and sovereign nation with effect from August 15, 1947.
• Provided for the partition of India into two dominions of India and Pakistan
• The office of Viceroy was abolished and a Governor-General was to be appointed in each of the dominions
• The Constituent Assemblies of the two dominions were to have powers to legislate for their respective territories.
• Princely states were free to join any of the two dominions or to remain independent.

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Important IR Pacts in News

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23 April 2020 

Joint Press Statement 14th Meeting of India-France Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism

• India and France held the 14th Meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in New Delhi on February 28, 2020
• Both sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed the need for strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner.
• They exchanged views on current counter-terrorism challenges including countering radicalization, combating the financing of terrorism, preventing the use of the internet for terrorist purposes, threats posed by internationally designated terrorist entities as well as cross-border terrorism in South Asian region.
• Both sides stressed upon the need to deny safe havens and sources of financing to terrorists.
• It was decided that the next meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism shall be held in France in 2021 on a mutually convenient date.

US-Taliban Pact

• The US and Taliban signed an agreement for “Bringing Peace to Afghanistan”, which will enable the US and NATO to withdraw troops in the next 14 months.
  The pact is between the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban” and the US.
• The four-page pact was signed between Zalmay Khalilzad, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, political head of the Taliban.

Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership

• Prime Minister Modi and President Trump pledged to deepen defence and security cooperation, especially through greater maritime and space domain awareness and information sharing; joint cooperation; exchange of military liaison personnel; advanced training and expanded exercises between all services and special forces; closer collaboration on co-development and co-production of advanced defence components, equipment and platforms; and partnership between their defence industries.
• Prime Minister Modi and President Trump resolved to enhance the security of their homelands through cooperation and to jointly fight international crimes like human trafficking, terrorism and violent extremism, drug-trafficking and crimes in cyberspace.

List of MoUs/Agreements exchanged and announced during State Visit of President of Portugal

• Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation for Setting Up a National Maritime Museum
• Heritage Complex in Lothal (Gujarat) between Portuguese Ministry of Defence and the Indian Ministry of Shipping.
• MOU between Economic and Food Safety Authority (ASAE) and DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce or co-operation in the field of industrial and intellectual property rights Co-operation Agreement on Maritime Transport and Port Development between India and  Portugal.
• MoU between the Portuguese Diplomatic Institute and Foreign Service Institute for training

Israel-Palestine Peace Plan

• The Israel-Palestine peace plan or the West Asia peace plan is the proposal unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump
• This plan seeks to address most of the contentious issues in the conflict.
• The solutions, Mr. Trump has proposed to almost all of these issues, favour the Israeli positions.
• He seeks to give to the Israelis, Jerusalem and part of the West Bank.
• With his plan, he is actually pushing to revive the stalled two-state talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but on his own terms.

What is the plan?

• The Palestinian refugees, who were forced out from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed the declaration of the state of Israel in historic Palestine, would not be allowed to return.
• Jerusalem would be the undivided capital of Israel, with Palestine gaining its capital in the east of the city.
• In return, Israel would freeze further settlement activities on the West Bank for 4 years (the time for negotiations).
• During this period, the Palestinian Authority should dismiss its current complaints at the International Criminal Court against Israel and refrain itself from taking further actions.
• It should crack down on certain terrorist groups like the Hamas

US-Guatemala Asylum Deal

• In July 2019, the then President of Guatemala signed an asylum deal with the US.
• Under the “safe third country” agreement, migrants have to apply for asylum in the first country they land in.
• If they fail to do so and proceed to the second country, they can be sent back to the first country.
• The US first signed such an agreement with Canada in 2002.

What is the US-Guatemala agreement

• In 2019, the US administration signed “safe third country” agreements with the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
• This made it more difficult for refugees to seek asylum in the US.
• This agreement allowed the US to send asylum seekers from third countries to Guatemala.
• So far, Guatemala is the only country which has implemented the agreement.
• Unless migrants apply for protection in Guatemala before proceeding to the US, they are sent back to Guatemala

Indo-German Partnership

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the first foreign leader to visit India after Jammu and Kashmir was officially bifurcated into two Union Territories on October 31
• Germany and India signed 17 agreements and five joint declarations of intent in fields spanning space, civil aviation, maritime technology, medicine, yoga and education.

PM Modi’s Saudi Visit – Future Investment Initiative Forum

• The forum is formally called the Future Investment Initiative and was launched in 2017.
• The Indian PM will be joining Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, U.S. President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
• Other leading international figures also join at the annual international forum popularly known as “Davos in the Desert”.
• It seeks to elevate Saudi Arabia’s international economic engagement.
• It is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MbS’s) efforts to rapidly transform Saudi the economy under the “Vision 2030” that he unveiled in 2016.

Mamallapuram Summit – India and China

• PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping recently held an informal summit in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.
• The two countries convened their first Informal Summit in central China’s Wuhan in April 2018, where they exchanged views on issues of global and bilateral significance.
• Irrespective of the rhetoric of a Wuhan spirit, the relationship is facing difficulties, reflected in a number of disputes between the two countries.

Informal Summits

• Informal Summits act as supplementary exchanges to annual Summits and other formal exchanges such as the G20 Summit, EU-India Summit and the BRICS Summit among others.
• It allows for direct, free and candid exchange of views between countries, something that may not be possible to do through formal bilateral and multilateral meetings that are agenda-driven.
• Informal Summits may not take place on a fixed annual or biennial schedule; they are impromptu in the sense that they take place when a need for them is perceived by the concerned nations.

Wuhan Spirit

• Wuhan Spirit is in line with the five principles of peaceful coexistence (Panchsheel) jointly advocated by China and India in the 1950s.
• Wuhan Spirit highlighted To form the “backbone” of economic globalization, and they should jointly make positive contributions to global peace and development.
• To cooperate, for the first time ever, on a joint project in Afghanistan.
  China has indicated that India’s refusal to join the Belt and Road Initiative will not come in the way of economic cooperation.

Extradition Treaty between India and Belgium

• Recently, the Union Cabinet has approved the signing and ratifying of the Extradition Treaty between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Belgium.
• This will replace the pre-Independence Extradition Treaty between Great Britain and Belgium of 1901 that was made applicable to India through the exchange of Letters in 1958.
• The Treaty provides a legal framework for seeking the extradition of terrorists, economic offenders, and other criminals from and to Belgium.

Multilateral Export Control Regimes

• MECR is voluntary and non-binding agreements created by the major supplier countries that have agreed to co-operate in their effort to prevent and regulate the transfer of certain military and dual-use technology.
• It aims at preventing the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
• They are independent of the United Nations.
• Their regulations apply only to members and it is not obligatory for a country to join.
• India is now a member of three of the four MECRs, except the Nuclear supplier Group.

There are currently four such regimes under MECR

• The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), for the control of nuclear-related technology.
• The Australia Group (AG) for control of chemical and biological technology that could be weaponized.
• The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) for the control of rockets and other aerial vehicles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.
• The Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.

Joint Economic Trade Committee

• JETCO provides a forum to United Kingdom companies to enhance their links and develop new partnerships with India business and decision-makers.
  Government to Government negotiations, which address issues of market liberalization and market access, are conducted through the JETCO process.
• The UK India Business Council plays a key role in feeding the views of the UK business community into JETCO process with a view to achieving favourable outcomes for UK companies.
• One of the key objectives of the JETCO process is to unveil opportunities for London’s most prominent institutional investors to invest in India.

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Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

National Parks, Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries in India – Part 2

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22 April 2020 

India is one of the 17 megadiverse countries of the world. With only 2.4% of the world’s land area, 16.7% of the world’s human population and 18% livestock, it contributes about 8% of the known global biodiversity, however, putting enormous demands on our natural resources. India is home to world’s largest wild tigers population and has a unique assemblage of globally important endangered species like Asiatic lion, Asian Elephant, One-horned Rhinoceros, Gangetic River Dolphin, Snow Leopard, Kashmir Stag, Dugong, Gharial, Great Indian Bustard, Lion Tailed Macaque etc. The following steps have thus been taken to protect and manage the wildlife of the country:

 

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Important Sessions of Indian National Congress

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21 April 2020 

Important sessions of Congress

• 1885- 1st, Bombay, presided by W.C. Banerjee
• 1887- Badruddin Tyabji became 1st Muslim to preside over congress session
• 1907- Surat, Ras Bihari Ghosh not Bose, split in Congress between moderates and extremists
• 1916- Lucknow, Reunion on congress, Lucknow pact between Congress and Muslim league
• 1919 – Amritsar, Motilal Nehru Jallianwala Bagh Massacre is condemned
• 1920 – Nagpur C.Vijayraghavachair a new constitution for reorganized
• 1924 – Belgaum Mahatma Gandhi.
• 1927 – Madras M.A.Ansari, adoption of Independent Resolution, resolved to boycott the Simon Commission
• 1929- Lahore, J.L. Nehru, Purna Swaraj Resolution
• 1931- Karachi, Vallabh Bhai, Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme.
• 1936 – April, Lucknow Jawaharlal Nehru, urged the Congress to adopt Socialism as its goal
• 1938- Haripura, S.C. Bose, National Planning Committee under J.L. Nehru

Leaders of the session

• Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the president of the first session of the Indian National Congress.
• Annie Beasant was the first female President of the Indian National Congress.
• Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman president of the Indian National Congress.
• Badruddin Tyabji was the first Muslim President of the Indian National
  Congress.
• Rahimtulla Sayani was the second Muslim President of the Indian National
  Congress.
• George Yule was the first European President of the Indian National Congress.
• Dadhabhai Naoroji was the first Parsi President of the Indian National Congress.
• Sankaran Narayan was the first & the only Keralite President of the Indian National Congress Session.
• Hakim Ajmal Khan was the only person to be appointed as the President of INC, All India Muslim League & All India Khilafat Committee.

 

 

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Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Species in News

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20 April 2020 

Trimeresurus Salazar

• Salazar’s pit viper belongs to the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède comprising “charismatic venomous serpents with morphologically as well as ecologically diverse species”.
• Pit vipers are venomous snakes distinguished by their heat-sensing pit organs between the eye and the nostril.
• The name was inspired by Salazar Slytherin, the co-founder of J.K. Rowlings’ fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Himalayan Ibex

IUCN/WPA Status:    Least Concern / Schedule I

• Himalayan Ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) is widely found in arid and rocky mountain of Karakoram, Hindukush and Himalayas of Gilgit-Baltistan.
• The males are characterized by heavy body, large horns, long bears while females have small body small horns.
• The threats that Himalayan ibex face are the illegal hunting, human disturbance, habitat loss and competition for forage with domestic livestock.

Red Panda

IUCN Red List Status: Endangered

• The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China.
• Its wild population is estimated at fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and continues to decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and inbreeding depression.
• Despite its name, it is not closely related to the giant panda
• The animal has been hunted for meat and fur, besides illegal capture for the pet trade.
• An estimated 14,500 animals are left in the wild across Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar.
• About 5,000-6,000 red pandas are estimated to be present in four Indian states – Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal.
• The diminishing habitat is a major threat to the species which is a very selective feeder and survives on selected species of bamboos.

About South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)

• SAWEN is a Regional network is comprised of eight countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• It aims at working as a strong regional intergovernmental body for combating wildlife crime by attempting common goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region.
• The South Asia region is very vulnerable to illegal traffic and wildlife crimes due to the presence of precious biodiversity and large markets as well as traffic routes for wildlife products in the south East Asian region.
• The collaboration in harmonizing as well as enforcing the wildlife protection in the region is considered very important for effective conservation of such precious biodiversity.
• India adopted the Statute of the SAWEN and became its formal member in 2016.

Swamp wallaby

IUCN Status: Least Concerned

• The swamp wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. It is likely the only mammal pregnant and lactating all lifelong.
• Female wallabies and kangaroos have two uteri and two separate ovaries.
• At the end of a pregnancy in one uterus, a new embryo develops in the other uterus.
• Kangaroos and wallabies regularly have an embryo in the uterus, a young joey in the pouch, and a third semi-dependent young at foot, still drinking its mother’s milk.

How it is different from Kangaroo?

• In kangaroos, the new embryo is conceived a day or two after the previous birth.
• In the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor), the new conception happens one or two days before the previous joey is delivered.

Eurasian Otters

• IUCN Status: Near Threatened
• Species in India: Smooth-coated, Asian small-clawed and Eurasian Otters
• Habitat: Smooth-coated — all over India; Asian small-clawed — only in the Himalayan foothills, parts of the Eastern and southern Western Ghats; Eurasian — Western Ghats and Himalayas.
• Diet comprises several small animals, mainly crabs and small fishes.
• Lives in small packs, is mostly nocturnal, but can be diurnal in areas which are less disturbed.

Thanatotheristes

• Tyrannosaurs were one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs to have ever lived, with very large and high skulls, and the best known among them is the Tyrannosaurus rex, celebrated in the Jurassic Park series.
• The 79-million-year-old fossil that the researchers have found is the oldest tyrannosaur known from northern North America.
• Thanatotheristes preyed on large plant-eating dinosaurs such as the horned xenoceratops and the dome-headed colepiochephale.
• The research suggests that tyrannosaurs did not have one general body type; rather different tyrannosaur species evolved distinct body sizes, skull forms and other such physical features.
• The fossil specimen is important to understand the Late Cretaceous period, which is the period when tyrannosaurs roamed the Earth.

Flame-throated Bulbul

IUCN status: Least Concern

• The Flame-throated Bulbul is endemic to southern peninsular India where it is locally distributed in southern Andhra Pradesh, eastern Karnataka, Goa, Orissa, eastern Kerala and northern Tamil Nadu.
• It prefer habitats like rocky, scrub-covered hills mostly in the Eastern Ghats and central peninsular India but also in some places in the Western Ghats.
• It is a Schedule – IV bird under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Archaea

• Archaea (singular archaeon) are a primitive group of microorganisms that thrive in extreme habitats such as hot springs, cold deserts and hypersaline lakes.
• These slow-growing organisms are also present in the human gut, and have a potential relationship with human health.
• They are known for producing antimicrobial molecules, and for anti-oxidant activity with applications in eco-friendly waste-water treatment.
• Archaea are extremely difficult to culture due to challenges in providing natural conditions in a laboratory setting.
• As archaea are relatively poorly studied, very little is known about how archaea behave in the human body.
• The organism has potential gene clusters that helps maintain the metabolism of the archaea to survive in extreme harsh conditions.

Steppe Eagle

• A lone endangered steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) has been sighted by a group of birdwatchers in a paddy field near Vijayawada.
• The Steppe Eagle is a migratory raptor which has undergone extremely rapid population declines within all its range.
• It breeds in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia during the winter season.
• Steppe eagle is the second-largest migratory eagle species to India.
• IUCN Status: It has moved from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Endangered’

IVF of White Rhinos

• Researchers had created another embryo — the third — of the nearly extinct northern white rhino. This is seen as a remarkable success in an ongoing global mission to keep the species from going extinct.
• IVF is a type of assisted reproductive technology used for infertility treatment and gestational surrogacy.
• A fertilised egg may be implanted into a surrogate’s uterus, and the resulting child is genetically unrelated to the surrogate.
• Some countries have banned or otherwise regulate the availability of IVF treatment, giving rise to fertility tourism.
• Restrictions on the availability of IVF include costs and age, in order for a woman to carry a healthy pregnancy to term.
• IVF is generally not used until less invasive or expensive options have failed or been determined unlikely to work.

Types of Rhinos

• The northern white is one of the two subspecies of the white (or square-lipped) rhinoceros, which once roamed several African countries south of the Sahara.
• The other subspecies, the southern white is, by contrast, the most numerous subspecies of rhino, and is found primarily in South Africa.
• There is also the black (or hook-lipped) rhinoceros in Africa, which too, is fighting for survival, and at least three of whose subspecies are already extinct.
• The Indian rhinoceros is different from its African cousins, most prominently in that it has only one horn.
• There is also a Javan rhino, which too, has one horn, and a Sumatran rhino which, like the African rhinos, has two horns.

Greylag goose

• Greylag goose, a migratory specie was recently spotted in Telangana
• This is the third recorded sighting of the large-sized bird in Telangana, which makes it ‘eligible’ to be the latest addition to the State’s exhaustive list of birds.
• As per scientific and accepted norms, a species has to be seen three different times in three different places, or by three independent observers, before it can be accepted as an addition to a State’s list.
• The Greylag geese are common visitors to North India in winters, and are found mostly in wetlands there feeding generally on aquatic weeds and grass.
• IUCN Status: Least Concerned.

Chinese paddlefish

• The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) was an iconic species, measuring up to 7 m in length, dating back from 200 million years ago, and therefore swimming the rivers when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
• Its ancestral home was the Yangtze River.
• It was once common in the Yangtze, before overfishing and habitat fragmentation — including dam building — caused its population to dwindle from the 1970s onwards.
• Between 1981 and 2003, there were just around 210 sightings of the fish. The researchers estimate that it became functionally extinct by 1993, and extinct sometime between 2005-2010.

Senna spectabilis

• The Senna spectabilis species was planted as avenue trees in Wayanad. The vayal ecosystem (marshy land) of the forest area now has this plant in large numbers.
• The spread is posing a major threat to the forest areas of the reserve, owing to its quick growth and coppicing character.
• The tree species was found in nearly 10 sq km area of the 344.44 sq km sanctuary around five years ago.
• The plant has started to invade the adjacent Bandipur and Nagarhole tiger reserves in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.
• Now, it had invaded to more than 50 sq km of the sanctuary Wayanad WLS.
• A recent study of the Ferns Nature Conservation Society recorded the presence of the plant in 78.91 sq km area of the sanctuary.

Locusts

• Locusts are certain species of short-horned grasshoppers that have a swarming phase.
• Swarming refers to a collective behaviour in which locusts aggregate together just like flocks of birds.
• These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they become more abundant and change their behaviour and habits, becoming grouped.
• They form bands of wingless nymphs which later become swarms of winged adults.
• Both the bands and the swarms move around and rapidly strip fields and cause damage to crops.
• The adults are powerful fliers; they can travel great distances, consuming most of the green vegetation wherever the swarm settles.

Bar-headed goose

• IUCN conservation status: Least Concern.
• The Bar-headed geese (Anser Indicus) are found in central China and Mangolia and they breed there.
• They start migration to the Indian sub-continent during the winter and stay here till the end of the season.
• They return to their homes by crossing the Himalayan ranges.
• Their migration has been a fascination for birders as they cross the Himalayas on one of the most high-altitude migrations in the world.

Himalayan gold’

• Caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps Sinensis) is a fungal parasite of larvae (caterpillars) that belongs to the ghost moth.
• It is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau, including the adjoining high Himalaya (3,200-4,500 metres above sea level).
• It is locally known as Kira Jari (in India), Yartsagunbu (in Tibet), Yarso Gumbub (Bhutan), Dong Chong Xia Cao (China) and Yarsagumba (in Nepal).
• In the Indian Himalayas, the species has been documented in the region from the alpine meadows of protected areas such as Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchendzonga Biosphere Reserve and Dehan-Debang Biosphere Reserve.

About Gangetic Dolphins

• The Gangetic river dolphins can only live in freshwater, are blind and catch their prey in a unique manner, using ultrasonic sound waves.
• These dolphins prefer deep waters and, as per WWF, they are distributed across seven states in India: Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• Their numbers have dwindled in the last few decades mainly because of direct killing, habitat fragmentation by dams and barrages and indiscriminate fishing.

Protection status

• The Gangetic river dolphins were officially discovered in 1801 and are one of the oldest creatures in the world along with some species of turtles, crocodiles and sharks, a/c to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
• They once lived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, but are now mostly extinct from many of its early distribution ranges, as per WWF.
• In 2009, the Gangetic dolphins were declared India’s National Aquatic animal during the first meeting of the erstwhile National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA).
• It is placed under the “endangered” category by the IUCN.
• Additionally, the Gangetic dolphins have been included in Schedule -I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which means they have the highest degree of protection against hunting.
• They are also one among the 21 species identified under the centrally sponsored scheme, “Development of Wildlife Habitat”.

Trachischium apteii

• It was found under fallen logs inside a thickly forested area of the Tally Valley Wildlife Sanctuary near the town of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh during a field expedition by researchers in July 2019.
• It belongs to a group of fossorial snakes that live mostly underground, and surface mainly during or after a heavy monsoon shower.
• Due to the burrowing habits of species of this genus, snakes belonging to the group are seldom seen and hence remain poorly studied.
• This could have been one of the reasons that the species had eluded the researchers.

Pliosaurs

• Over 150 million years ago, enormous reptiles swam the Jurassic oceans.
• The largest aquatic carnivorous reptiles that have ever lived, they are often dubbed “sea monsters”.
• Scientifically, they are placed in the suborder Pliosauroidea, whose members are called pliosaurs.
• Interest in these giants has been revived with the recent discovery of their bones in a cornfield in the Polish village of Krzyzanowice. Remains of pliosaurs are rare in Europe.

What makes them special?

• They measured over 10 metres in length and could weigh up to several dozen tons.
• They had powerful, large skulls and massive jaws with large, sharp teeth.
• Their limbs were in the form of fins.

Swietokrzyskie Mountains

• The Swietokrzyskie Mountains are a mountain range in central Poland.
• In the Jurassic era, the Swietokrzyskie Mountains area is believed to have been an archipelago of islands, where there were warm lagoons and shallow sea reservoirs, home to the marine reptiles discovered by the palaeontologists.
• The locality where the remains were discovered is considered to be rich in the fossils of coastal reptiles. Researchers now hope to find more remains in the coming months.

 

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Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

LANDMARK JUDGMENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

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18 April 2020 

Champakam Dorairajan State of Madras,1951

• In this case caste-based reservations were struck down by the court, as against Article 16(2) of the Constitution.
• With regard to the admission of students to the Engineering and Medical Colleges of the State, the Province of Madras had issued an order which, fixed number of seats for particular communities.
• It noticed that while Cl. (1) Art. 29 protects the language, script or culture of a section of the citizens, cl. (2) guarantees the fundamental right of an individual citizen.
• This right can not be denied to the city only on grounds of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
• If a citizen who seeks admission into any such educational institution has not the requisite academic qualifications and is denied admission on that ground, he certainly cannot be heard to complain of an infraction of his fundamental right under this Article.
• This case resulted in the First Amendment of the Constitution of India.

Berubari Union case (1960)

• This case was regarding the Parliament’s power to transfer the territory of Berubai to Pakistan. The SC examined Article 3 in detail and held that the Parliament cannot make laws under this article in order to execute the Nehru-Noon agreement.
• Hence, the 9th Amendment Act was passed to enforce the agreement.

Golaknath State of Punjab 1967

• The Apex court held that law made by the Parliament shall not be such that infringes and takes away the fundamental rights of the citizen which are provided by the Constitution of India.
• Law made by a Parliament in a law under Article 13 of the Constitution.
• Further, the constitution can be amended.
• The judgement was overruled by 24th amendment.
• The judgement was restored and its scope was extended in Keshavnand Bharti case.

Madhav Jiwaji Rao Scindia Union of India, 1970

• The infamous case, Madhav Jiwaji Rao Scindia v. Union of India deals with Article 18 of the Constitution of India.
• It abolishes all special titles.
• The Supreme Court in this case held the 1970 Presidential order as invalid,.
• This decision of the court led to abolishing titles and privileges of India’s erstwhile princely rulers.
• It even abolished privy purses of India’s erstwhile princely rulers.

Kesavananda Bharati State of Kerala, 1973

• The bench in the present case comprised of 13 judges.
• This is the largest bench till date in the Indian judicial history.
• The Supreme Court gave Parliament power to amend any part of Constitution of India.
• The court further added that such amendment shall not take away the fundamental rights of the citizen which are provided by the Constitution of India.
• Such law is a law under article 13 of the constitution.
• This case is also referred as Fundamental rights case.

Indira Gandhi vs. Raj Narain, 1975

• The Supreme Court held clause 4 of 39th amendment as unconstitutional and void as it was outrightly denied of the right to equality enshrined in Article 14.
• The apex Court also added basic features of the constitution to list laid down in Keshavananda Bharti case.
• They are stated below:
  • democracy,
  • judicial review,
  • rule of law.
• Further, the court added jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 32, which deals with writs basically also forms the basic structure of the constitution.

D.M. Jabalpur v. S. Shukla, 1976

• The apex court in the infamous case of A.D.M. Jabalpur v. S. Shukla was a case during prevailing of emergency in the country.
• Right to move to the court for enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under constitution stands suspended.
• This even includes Article 14, 21 and 22.
• In later amendment, it was held that Article 21 and 22 cannot be suspended during the time of emergency.

Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India, 1978

• The case is considered a landmark case as it gave a new and highly varied interpretation of the meaning of ‘life and personal liberty’ under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• This law which prescribes a procedure for depriving a person of “personal liberty” has to fulfill the requirements of Articles 14 and 19 also.
• Also, it expanded the horizons of freedom of speech and expression. The case saw a high degree of judicial activism.
• One of the significant interpretation of this case is the discovery of inter-connections between the three Articles 14, 19 and 21.
• It was finally held by the court that the right to travel and go outside the country is included in the right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21.

Minerva Mills Union of India,1980

• The Supreme Court of India, strengthened the doctrine of the basic structure which was propounded earlier in the Keshavananda Bharti Case and held social welfare laws should not infringe fundamental rights.
• Few changes made by the 42nd Amendment Act were declared as null and void.
• It laid foundation of judicial review of the laws and judgements in the courts of India.
• Judicial review is dealt in Article 13(2) of thee Constitution of India.

Shah Bano Begum case (1985)

• Milestone case for Muslim women’s fight for rights. The SC upheld the right to alimony for a Muslim woman and said that the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is applicable to all citizens irrespective of their religion.
• This set off a political controversy and the government of the day overturned this judgement by passing the Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986, according to which alimony need be given only during the iddat period (in tune with the Muslim personal law)

Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1985

• This case came before the Supreme Court as a writ petition.
• 5 judge-bench gave decision allowing petitioners who live on pavements and in slums in the city of Bombay to stay on the pavements against their order of eviction.
• The court also held that right to livelihood is a right to life as per Article 21.
• Though the slum resident agreed not to challenge the decision of Municipal Corporation.
• Court held that one’s fundamental right cannot be waived

 MC Mehta v. Union of India, 1986

• MC Mehta filed a Public Interest Litigation for escape of poisonous gases by a plant in Bhopal.
• The court in this case extended the scope of Article 21 and 32 of the Constitution of India.
• The case is also famous as Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
• Finally, the court granted interim compensation of 250 crores to the victims.
• Though High Court asked Union Carbide to pay compensation of 350 crores to the victim.

SR Bommai v. Union of India, 1993

• The court in this case curtailed power of President under Article 356 of the constitution of India.
• It also held that secularism is the basic structure of the Constitution.
• It laid the existence of Ram Temple in the disputed area.
• It held the case to larger bench for demolition of Babri Masjid.

Rajagopalv. State of Tamil Nadu, 1994

• The court in this case, decided that the right to privacy subsisted even if a matter becomes one of public record and hence right to be let alone is part of personal liberty.
• This comes under the perview of Article 21
• The case is also known as auto Shankar case.
• The judges held that the petitioners have a right to publish, what they allege to be the life story/autobiography of Auto Shankar insofar as it appears from the public records, even without his consent or authorization.
• There is a violation of the right to freedom of expression..

 Vishaka State of Rajasthan, 1997

• This case came before the Supreme Court as a Public Interest Litigation against State of Rajasthan and Union of
• India by Vishakha and other women groups.
• The petitioners demanded enforcement fundamental rights for working women under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
• For this, Vishaka Guidelines were issued.

Dimensions

• The judgment also provided basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace along with provided guidelines to deal with the same.
• Employers shall initiate appropriate action in accordance with concerned criminal law by making a complaint with the appropriate authority.
• Disciplinary actions should be taken.
• Threw light on compliance mechanism and workers’ initiative.

D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal

• In this case, the Supreme Court laid down detailed guidelines to be followed by the central and state investigating agencies.
• It related all cases dealing with arrest and detention
• The court held that till legal provisions are made in that behalf as preventive measures.
• Court held that any form of torture or cruel inhuman or degrading treatment.
• Even it occurs during interrogation, investigation or otherwise, falls within the ambit of Article 21.

Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association v. Union of India, 1993

• It overruled S P Gupta v. Union of India.
• Court held primacy of Chief justice cannot be taken away in appointment and transfer of judges of Supreme Court and High Courts.
• It recommended the constitution of collegiums of judges for the same.
• The case is named as the Second judge transfer case.
• It was later overruled a committee called NJAC was appointed for appointment and transfer of judges of Supreme Court and High Courts.
• It was again overruled and NJAC was held unconstitutional in Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association v. Union of India, 2014

Subramanian swamy vs. Unlon of India,2016

• The Supreme Court upheld the Constitutional Validity of Sections 499 to 502[[Chapter XXIl] of Indian Penal Code relating to Criminal Defamation.
• The Bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra and PC. Pant held that the right to Life under Article 21 includes right to reputation.
• The Bench has dismissed the Petitions filed by Subramanian Swamy, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal challenging the law relating to Criminal Defamation in India.
• Criminal Defamation law not unconstitutional.

I.R Coelho and State of Tamil Nadu 2007

• This judgement held that if a law is included in the 9th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, it can still be examined and confronted in court. The 9th Schedule of the Indian Constitution is a list of acts and laws which cannot be challenged in a court of law.
• The Waman Rao ruling ensured that acts and laws mentioned in the IX schedule till 24 April 1973, shall not be changed or challenged, but any attempt to amend or add more acts to that schedule, will suffer close inspection and examination by the judiciary system

Aruna Shanbaug Case (2011)

• The SC ruled that individuals had a right to die with dignity, allowing passive Euthanasia with guidelines. The need to reform India’s laws on euthanasia was triggered by the tragic case of Aruna Shanbaug who lay in a vegetative state (blind, paralysed and deaf) for 42 years

 Lily Thomas and Union Of India (2013)

• The SC ruled that any MLA, MLC or MP who was found guilty of a crime and given a minimum of 2 years imprisonment would cease to be a member of the House with immediate effect.

 National Legal Services Authority and Union of India (2014)

• This case resulted in the recognition of transgender persons as a third gender. The SC also instructed the government to treat them as minorities and expand the reservations in education, jobs, education, etc.

FURTHER READING:

A.K. Gopalan Case (1950): (Interpreted key Fundamental Rights including Article 19 and 21)

• This is a significant decision of the Supreme Court because it represented the first case where the court meaningfully examined and interpreted key fundamental rights enlisted in the constitution including article 19 and 21. The contention was whether, under the writ of habeas corpus and the provisions of the preventive detention act, there was a violation of the fundamental rights entitled in article 13, 19, 21 and 22.
• The Supreme Court restricted the scope of fundamental rights by reading them in isolation of article 21 and 22 which provided guidelines for preventive detention. The Supreme Court iterated that the term ‘due process’ prevented the courts from engaging in substantive due process analysis in determining the reasonableness of the level of the process provided by the Legislature.

Shankari Prasad Case (1951): (Amendability of Fundamental Rights)

• In this case, the validity of the first constitutional amendment which added Article 31-A and 31-B of the
• Constitution was challenged. The first time, the question whether fundamental rights can be amended under Article 368 came for consideration of the Supreme Court.
• The Supreme Court rejected the contention that in so far as the First Amendment took away or abridged the fundamental rights conferred by Part III it should not be upheld in the light of the provisions of article 13(2).

Dimensions

• Therefore “law” in article 13 must be taken to mean rules or regulations made in the exercise of ordinary legislative power and not amendments to the Constitution made in the exercise of constituent power. Article 13 (2) did not affect amendments made under article 368.

Berubari Union case (1960): (Parliament’s power to make amendments under Article 3 and Article 368)

• In this case, conflict arose regarding the power of the parliament to transfer the territory of Berubari to Pakistan.
• The detailed examination of article 3 was done by the Supreme Court on a reference made by the President in 1960. The Supreme Court held that the Parliament of India is not competent to make a law under article 3 for the implementation of the Nehru-Noon Agreement.
• This was followed by an amendment of the constitution by parliament using the power of Article 368. The result was the Constitution (9th Amendment) Act 1960.
• The Supreme Court gave a very narrow judgement that the preamble was not an integral part of the constitution and therefore it is not enforceable in a court of law.

C. Golaknath case (1967): (Validity of the First and Seventeenth Amendments and described the scope of Article 13)

• The validity of the First and Seventeenth Amendments to the Constitution in so far as they affect the fundamental rights was again challenged is this case. The fourth amendment was also challenged.
• The Supreme Court adopted a doctrine of prospective overruling under which the three constitutional amendments concerned would continue to be valid. Moreover, the Supreme Court held that article 368 dealt only with the procedure for amendment and an amendment to the Constitution is made as part of the normal legislative process. It is, therefore, a “law” for the purpose of article 13 (2).
• To get over the decision of the Supreme Court in Golaknath’s case the Constitution 24th Amendment Act was passed in 1971 in which changes to articles 13 and 368 was made.

Kesvananda Bharti case (1973): (Defined the Basic Structure of the Indian Constitution)

• The Supreme Court reviewed the decision in Golaknath v. The state of Punjab and considered the validity of the 24th, 25th, 26th and 29th Amendments. The Court held that although no part of the constitution, including fundamental rights, was beyond the amending power of Parliament, the “basic structure of the Constitution could not be abrogated even by a constitutional amendment.
• It is a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India, and is the basis in Indian law for the exercise of the Indian judicial of the power to judicially review, and strike down amendments to the Constitution of India passed by the Indian Parliament which conflict with the Constitution’s basic structure.
• The judgment also defined the extent to which the Indian Parliament could restrict the right to property, in pursuit of land reform and the redistribution of large landholdings to cultivators, overruling previous decisions that suggested that the right to property could not be restricted.

Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narayan case (1975): (Disputes relating to elections involving the Prime Minister of India)

• The concept of basic structure was reaffirmed in Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narayan case. The Supreme Court applied the theory of basic structure and struck down Clause(4) of article 329-A, which was inserted by the 39^th Amendment in 1975 on the ground that it was beyond the amending power of the parliament as it destroyed the basic feature of the constitution.

Dimensions

• The amendment was made to the jurisdiction of all courts, including the Supreme Court, over disputes relating to elections involving the Prime Minister of India.
• Some basic features of the Constitution were listed in this case which is considered as unamendable such as sovereign democratic republic status, equality of status and opportunity of an individual, secularism and freedom of conscience and religion and rule of law.

Menaka Gandhi case (1978): (Significant towards the transformation of the judicial review on Article 21)          

• This case is a landmark judgement which played the most significant role towards the transformation of the judicial view on Article 21 of the Constitution of India so as to imply many more fundamental rights from article 21. A writ petition was filed by Maneka Gandhi under Article 32 of the Constitution in the Supreme Court.
• The main issues of this case were whether the right to go abroad is a part of the right to personal liberty under Article 21 and whether the Passport Act prescribes a ‘procedure’ as required by Article 21 before depriving a person of the right guaranteed under the said article.
• A new doctrine of a post-decision theory was evolved and the most significant interpretation was made on the interconnections between the three articles 14, 19 and 21.
• It was finally held by the court that the right to travel and go outside the country is included in the right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21. The Court ruled that the mere existence of an enabling law was not enough to restrain personal liberty. Such a law must also be “just, fair and reasonable”.

Minerva mills case (1980): (Basic Structure which includes Parliament’s power to amend and the power of Judicial Review)

• In this case, the validity of the 42nd amendment act was challenged on the ground that they are violative of the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution. The Supreme Court struck down clauses (4) and (5) of the article 368 and it was ruled by the court that a limited amending power itself is a basic feature of the Constitution.
• The court held that the amendment made to Article 31C is invalid on the ground that they violate two basic features of the Constitution that are the limited nature of the parliament of the power to amend and the power of judicial review.
• The Judgement of the Supreme Court thus makes it clear that the Constitution is the Supreme, not the Parliament. Parliament cannot have unlimited amending power so as to damage or destroy the Constitution to which it owes its existence and also derives its power from.

Waman Rao Case (1981): (Validity of 9th Schedule and demarcarting the date of 24th april 1973)

• Supreme Court in Waman Rao case once again reiterated and applied the doctrine of the basic features of the Constitution. In this case, the implications of the basic structure doctrine for Article31-B were re-examined.
• The Court drew a line of demarcation on April 24th, 1973 (the date of Kesavananda Bharti’s decision) and held it should not be applied retrospectively to reopen the validity of any amendment to the Constitution, which took place prior to 24-04-1973. It meant all the amendments which added to the Ninth Schedule before that date were valid.
• All future amendments were held to be challengeable on the grounds that the Acts and Regulations, which they inserted in the Ninth Schedule, damaged the basic structure. The decision of this case is a landmark one in the constitutional jurisprudence of India. This case has helped in determining a satisfactory method of preserving the settled position and to address grievances pertaining to the violation of fundamental rights.

R. Bommai case (1994): (Misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India)

• R. Bommai case was a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, where the Court discussed provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India and related issues. This case had a huge impact on CentreState Relations. The judgement attempted to curb blatant misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India, which allowed President’s rule to be imposed on state governments.
• Bommai v. The Union of India raised a serious question of law relating to the Proclamation of President’s Rule and dissolution of Legislative assemblies according to Article 356 of the Constitution of India. This verdict stopped the misuse of Article 356 (imposition of the president rule).

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Important Regional Organizations and Blocs

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17 April 2020 

1.ASEAN ( Association of South-East Asian Nations)

• It is a political and economic organisation of 10 South-East Asian nations
• Formed in 1967
• Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
• HQ: Jakarta, Indonesia

Current members are:
1. Indonesia
2. Malaysia
3. Philippines
4. Singapore
5. Thailand
6. Brunei
7. Cambodia
8. Laos
9. Myanmar (Burma)
10. Vietnam

AiM:

• Accelerating economic growth, social progress, and socio-cultural evolution among its members, Protection of regional stability
• Providing a mechanism for member countries to resolve differences peacefully
• ‘The ASEAN Way’ means : Doctrine that the member countries will largely mind their own business when it comes to internal matters of member countries
• ASEAN Plus Three: Was created to improve existing ties with the China, Japan and South Korea.
• If the ASEAN nations were a single country, their combined economy would rank the 7th largest in the world

India:

• Has and FTA with ASEAN (operational since 2010)

2.APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)

• It is a regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim countries
• Established in 1989
• HQ: Singapore
• APEC’s 21 members aim to promote free trade throughout the Asia- Pacific region.
• APEC account for about half the world’s trade and almost 60% of global trade
• · It established in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world
• To fears that highly industrialized Japan (a member of G8 ) would come to dominate economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region
• To establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe
• India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Officials have decided not to allow India to join for various reasons, considering that India does not border the Pacific Ocean, which all current members do. However, India was invited to be an observer for the first time in November 2011.

3. BBIN ( Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal)

• It is a sub-regional architecture of these four countries.
• Aims to formulate, implement and review quadrilateral agreements across areas such as water resources management, connectivity of power, transport, and infrastructure.

4. BCIM Bangladesh-China-Inida-Myanmar

• Aim:  greater integration of trade and investment between the four countries
• BCIM economic corridor is an initiative conceptualised for significant gains through sub-regional economic co-operation with BCIM
• The multi-modal corridor will be the first expressway between India and China and will pass through Myanmar and Bangladesh
• BCIM evolved from ‘Kunming Initiative’

5.BIMSTEC ( Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)
·

• It is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. Established in 1997 in Bangkok. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand were founding members. Now it has seven members.
  Headquarters is in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Present members :
1.  Bangladesh
2.  India
3.  Myanmar
4.  Sri Lanka
5.  Thailand
6.  Bhutan
7.  Nepal

• The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and south-east Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. Commerce, investment, technology, tourism, human resource development, agriculture, fisheries, transport and communication, textiles, leather etc. have been included in it
• BIMSTEC uses the alphabetical order for chairmanship

6.BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa )

• Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
• The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G-20 members.
• The five BRICS countries represent half of the world population; all five members are in the top 25 of the world by population.
• The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states.
• The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the NDB will be opened in Johannesburg, South Africa.

7. G4

• Members : India, Brazil, Germany and Japan
  All members support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council
• Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN’s establishment.
• Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5)
• G4 campaigns for U.N. Reforms, including more representation for developing countries, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories, in the UNSC

8.IBSA (for India-Brazil-South Africa )

• All are Developing Democracies.
• The forum provides the three countries with a platform to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture, and defence among others.
• IBSA was formalised and launched through the adopti on of the “Brasilia Declaration.
• Brasilia Declaration (2003) : Approved urgent need for reforms in the United Nations, especially the Security Council.

9. G7

• The Group of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• The European Union is also represented within the G7.
• These countries are the seven major advanced economies as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
• G7 countries represent more than 64% of the net global wealth
  common denominator among members is the economy and long-term political motives

10.The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean.
• The IORA is a regional forum, tripartite in nature, bringing together representatives of Government, Business and Academia, for promoting co-operation and closer interaction among them.
• It is based on the principles of Open Regionalism for strengthening Economic Cooperation particularly on Trade Facilitation and Investment, Promotion as well as Social Development of the region. The Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is located at Ebene, Mauritius.
• 21 member states : South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius,
  Seychelles, Iran, Oman, UAE, Yemen, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Somalia.
• Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar are not members
• The organisation was first established as Indian Ocean Rim Initiative in Mauritius on March 1995 and formally launched in 1997 by the conclusion of a multilateral treaty known as the Charter of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation.

11.The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation

• The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications.
• It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR.

12.Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

• The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an ambitious, comprehensive, and high-standard trade and investment agreement being negotiated between the United States and the European Union (EU).
• TTIP will help unlock opportunity for American families, workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers through increased access to European markets for Made-in-America goods and services. This will help to promote U.S. international competitiveness, jobs and growth.
• Its main three broad areas are:
  • market access;
  • specific regulation; and
  • broader rules and principle s and modes of co-operation

13.Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• These countries, except for Uzbekistan had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation. On July 10, 2015, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members.

14.SAARC

• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional international organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states include.

Afghanistan,

Bhutan

Pakistan,

Bangladesh,

India,

Nepal,

Maldives,

Pakistan

Sri Lanka.

• SAARC comprises 3% of the world’s area, 21% of the world&#39;s population and 3.8% of the global economy. SAARC was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8th December, 1985.
• Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu Nepal. The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration.
• It launched the South Asian free trade area in 2006. SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.

15.OECD

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organization with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
• The mission of the OECD is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
• It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.
• Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
• The OECD headquarter at Paris, France. The OECD is funded by contributions from member states.

LIST OF  MEMBER COUNTRIES

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Chile

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Latvia

Luxembourg

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovak Republic

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

16.G20

• The G20 or Group of Twenty is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies.
• It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.
• It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization. The G20 heads of government or heads of state have periodically conferred at summits since their initial meeting in 2008, and the group also hosts separate meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors.
• The G20 membership comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade.
• The work of G20 members is supported by several international organisations that provide policy advice. The G20 also regularly engages with non-government sectors. Engagement groups from business (B20), civil society (C20), labour (L20), think tanks (T20) and youth (Y20) are holding major events during the year, the outcomes of which will contribute to the deliberations of G20 leaders.
• The heads of the G20 nations met semi-annually at G20 summits between 2009 and 2010.
• Since the November 2011 Cannes summit, all G20 summits have been held annually.

17.OPEC

• Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna.
• Countries accounted for an estimated 42 % of global oil production and 73 % of the world’s oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by American-dominated multinational oil companies.
• Two-thirds of OPEC’s oil production and reserves are in its six Middle Eastern countries that surround the oil-rich Persian Gulf.
• The formation of OPEC marked a turning point toward national sovereignty over natural resources, and OPEC decisions have come to play a prominent role in the global oil market and international relations.

18.TPP

• The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States (until January 23, 2017) and Vietnam.
• The finalized proposal was signed on 4 February 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand, concluding seven years of negotiations.
• It currently cannot be ratified due to U.S. withdrawal from the agreement on 23 January 2017. The former Obama administration claimed that the agreement aimed to &quot;promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in the signatories; countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labour and environmental protections.
• The TPP contains measures to lower both non-tariff and tariff barriers to trade, and establish an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)  mechanism.

19.RCEP

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

 Brunei

 Cambodia

 Indonesia

 Laos

 Malaysia

 Myanmar

 Philippines

 Singapore

 Thailand

 Vietnam and the six states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements:

(Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).

RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. The agreement is scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2017. RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade agreement which includes several Asian and American nations but excludes China and India.

20. Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)

• Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials.
• The NSG was set up in 1974 as a reaction to India’s nuclear tests to stop what it called the  misuse of nuclear material meant for peaceful purposes.
• Currently, it has 48 members and works by consensus.
• In 2008, the NSG participating governments agreed to grant India a “clean waiver” from its  existing rules, which forbid nuclear trade with a country which has not signed the Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty (NPT).

Background:

• India sought membership of the NSG in 2008, but its application hasn’t been decided on,  primarily because signing the NPT or other nuclear moratoriums on testing is a pre-requisite.
• The NSG works under the principle of unanimity and even one country’s vote against India will scuttle its bid.
• However, India has received a special waiver to conduct nuclear trade with all nuclear exporters.
• India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan are among the four UN member states which have not signed the NPT, the international pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

21. Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR):

• It was established in April 1987 by G-7 countries – USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan, to check the spread of unmanned delivery systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons of above 500kg for more than 300km.
• In 1992, it was extended for all types of weapons of mass destruction.
• Now, it has 35 full members including India and 4 “non-adherent members” – Israel, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia.
• China is not a member of this regime but it had verbally pledged to adhere to its original guidelines but not to the subsequent additions.
• It is not a legally-binding treaty. Hence, no punitive measures could be taken against non-compliance to the guidelines of the regime.
• It is a multilateral, consensus–based grouping of 35 member countries who are voluntarily committed to the non-proliferation of missiles capable of carrying chemical, biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
• It controls the export of the technologies and materials involved in ballistic missile systems and unmanned aerial vehicles particularly capable of carrying nuclear warheads of above 500kg  payload for more than 300 km.
• This is a non–treaty association of member countries with certain guidelines about the information sharing, national control laws and export policies for missile systems and a rule-based regulation mechanism to limit the transfer of such critical technologies of these missile systems.

22. Australia Group

• The Australia Group (AG) is an informal forum of countries which, through the harmonisation of export controls, seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical  or biological weapons.
• Coordination of national export control measures assists Australia Group participants to fulfil their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention to the fullest extent possible.
• This is achieved by members through the harmonisation of export controls like using licensing measures.
• It was established in the background of use of chemical weapons (in the form of nerve agents and sulphur mustard) by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
• Members: 42 countries + European Union
• All member countries are members of the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) and Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

23. WASSENAAR ARRANGEMENT

• The Wassenaar Arrangement was established to contribute to regional and international security and stability by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing destabilizing accumulations.
• It was established in 1996 in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, which is near The Hague.
• Members: 42 member states.
• All permanent members of UN Security Council except China are its members.
• Participating States seek, through their national policies, to ensure that transfers of these items do not contribute to the development or enhancement of military capabilities which undermine these goals, and are not diverted to support such capabilities.

24. International Organization for Migration (IOM)

• As of September 2016, it became a related organization of the United Nations.
  Its headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
• With 169 member states, a further 8 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries,IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.
• It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.
  India is a member of IOM.
• IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including
  refugees and internally displaced people.
• IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management:
  Migration and development.
  Facilitating migration.
  Regulating migration.
  Forced migration.

25. International Economic Association (IEA)

• The IEA was founded in 1950 as a Non-Governmental Organization, at the instigation of the Social Sciences Department of UNESCO.
• It has since its creation maintained information and consultative relations with UNESCO and is since 1973 a federated member of the International Social Science Council.
• Its aim has been to promote personal contacts and mutual understanding among economists in different parts of the world through the organization of scientific meetings, through common research programs and by means of publications of an international character on problems of current importance.
• The IEA is governed by a Council, composed of representatives of all Member Associations as well as a limited number of co-opted members.
• The Council meets triennially when it reviews the general policy of the Association and elects the President and other Officers and members of the Executive Committee for a three-year term of office.
• Amongst the past presidents of IEA were the Nobel Laureates Robert Solow, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz.

26. INDIA-BRAZIL-SOUTH AFRICA (IBSA)

• Established in June 2003, INDIA-BRAZIL-SOUTH AFRICA (IBSA) is a coordinating mechanism amongst three emerging countries, three multi-ethnic and multicultural democracies, which are
  determined to:
   Contribute to the construction of a new international architecture.
   Bring their voice together on global issues.
   Deepen their ties in various areas.
   It brings together three large democracies and major economies from three different continents namely, Africa, Asia and South America that represents three important poles for galvanizing South-  South cooperation.
• IBSA also opens itself to concrete projects of cooperation and partnership with less developed countries.
• The establishment of IBSA was formalized by the Brasilia Declaration of 6 June 2003.

27. International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

• ICAN, a coalition of hundreds of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), was launched in 20017 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
• ICAN seeks to shift the disarmament debate to focus on the humanitarian threat posed by nuclear weapons, drawing attention to their unique destructive capacity, their catastrophic health and environmental consequences, their indiscriminate targeting, the debilitating impact
  of a detonation on medical infrastructure and relief measures, and the long-lasting effects of radiation on the surrounding area.
• In September 2006, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, itself awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, adopted a proposal at its biennial congress in Helsinki, Finland, to launch ICAN globally.

28. International Energy Forum (IEF)

• IEF is the largest inter-governmental organisation in the field of oil and gas comprising 72 member countries, accounting for 90% of global supply and demand of the oil and gas.
• Members include developing, developed, OPEC, Non-OPEC and G20 countries.
• 18 of the G20 countries are members of IEF.
• India is also a member of the forum.
• The IEF is promoted by a permanent Secretariat based in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh, Saudi.

29. International Energy Agency (IEA)

• Founded in 1974, the IEA was initially designed to help countries co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in the supply of oil, such as the crisis of 1973/4.
• Members: Presently it has 30 member countries. India is the associate member of IAE.
• Headquarters (Secretariat): Paris, France.
• Publications: World Energy Outlook report.
• The four main areas of IEA focus are:

1. Energy Security: Promoting diversity, efficiency, flexibility and reliability for all fuels and  energy sources;
2. Economic Development: Supporting free markets to foster economic growth and eliminate energy poverty;
3. Environmental Awareness: Analyzing policy options to offset the impact of energy production and use on the environment, especially for tackling climate change and air pollution; and
4. Engagement Worldwide: Working closely with partner countries, especially major emerging economies, to find solutions to shared energy and environmental concerns.

30. Financial Action Task Force (FATF):

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was set up in 1989 by the western G7 countries, with headquarters in Paris.
• The objectives are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
• It is therefore a ―policy-making body‖ which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.
• It is empowered to curtail financing of UN-designated terrorist groups.
  It can publicly sensor countries that are not abiding by it’s norms.
• FATF has 37 members that include all 5 permanent members of the Security Council, and other countries with economic influence.
• Two regional organisations, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Commission (EC) are also its members.
• Saudi Arabia and Israel are observer countries (partial membership).
  India became a full member in 2010.

What are Regional Trading Blocs?

A regional trading bloc (RTB) is a co-operative union or group of countries within a specific geographical boundary. RTB protects its member nations within that region from imports from the non-members. Trading blocs are a special type of economic integration. There are four types of trading blocs −

Preferential Trade Area − Preferential Trade Areas (PTAs), the first step towards making a full-fledged RTB, exist when countries of a particular geographical region agree to decrease or eliminate tariffs on selected goods and services imported from other members of the area.

Free Trade Area − Free Trade Areas (FTAs) are like PTAs but in FTAs, the participating countries agree to remove or reduce barriers to trade on all goods coming from the participating members.

Customs Union − A customs union has no tariff barriers between members, plus they agree to a common (unified) external tariff against non-members. Effectively, the members are allowed to negotiate as a single bloc with third parties, including other trading blocs, or with the WTO.

Common Market − A ‘common market’ is an exclusive economic integration. The member countries trade freely all types of economic resources – not just tangible goods. All barriers to trade in goods, services, capital, and labour are removed in common markets. In addition to tariffs, non-tariff barriers are also diminished or removed in common markets.

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Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

International Organizations Regarding Environment and Conservation

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16 April 2020 

Earth System Governance Project (ESGP)

Established When and by Whom:  Developed under the auspices of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change. It started in January 2009.

Headquarter: The Earth System Governance Project Office is hosted at Lund University, Sweden.

Key Functions:

The Earth System Governance Project aims to contribute to science on the large, complex challenges of governance in an era of rapid and large-scale environmental change.

The project seeks to create a better understanding of the role of institutions, organizations and governance mechanisms by which humans regulate their relationship with the natural environment

The Earth System Governance Project aims to integrate governance research at all levels. The project aims to examine problems of the ‘global commons’, but also local problems from air pollution to the preservation of waters, waste treatment or desertification and soil degradation

However, due to natural interdependencies local environmental pollution can be transformed into changes of the global system that affect other localities. Therefore, the Earth System Governance Project looks at institutions and governance processes both local and globally

The Earth System Governance Project is a scientific effort, but also aims to assist policy responses to the pressing problems of earth system transformation

 

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Established When and by Whom: The Global Environment Facility was established in October 1991 as a $1 billion pilot program in the World Bank to assist in the protection of the global environment and to promote environmental sustainable development.

Headquarter: Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America

Key Functions:

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives.

Today the GEF is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment.

An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.

Funding: The GEF also serves as the financial mechanism for the following conventions:

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
• Minamata Convention on Mercury

India specific trivia:

*India has formed a permanent Constituency in the Executive Council of the GEF together with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives.

The Council Meetings are held semi-annually or as frequently necessary. At each meeting, the Council elects a Chairperson from among its members for the duration of that meeting. India’s Executive Director in the World Bank represents the GEF Council from our Constituency.

India is both a donor and a recipient of GEF. It has been a leading developing country participant in the GEF since its inception in 1991 and has played a major role in shaping the restructuring of the GEF. It had contributed US $ 6.0 million to the core fund in the GEF Pilot Phase.

India has pledged an amount of US $ 9.0 million towards the resources of each of the Five GEF replenishments. The total funds pledged so far amounts to US$ 51 million and an amount of US$ 48.75 million has been paid by December 2012 towards GEF replenishments.

Ministry of Finance is the political focal point while Ministry of Environment & Forests is the Operational Focal Point for the GEF Projects.

 

Global Green Growth Institute

Established When and by Whom: GGGI was first launched as a think tank in 2010 by Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and was later converted into an international treaty-based organization in 2012 at the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil.

Headquarter: It is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea

Key Functions: GGGI works to produce three major outcomes: adoption and implementation of green growth plans; provision of research for policymakers; and private sector engagement in the implementation of the national green growth plans. The organization uses three approaches to achieve these outcomes: Green Growth Planning & Implementation (GGP&I), Knowledge Development & Management (KDM), and Public-Private Cooperation (PPC).

Funding: Funds are given by Contributing members. Contributing members are defined as Member countries that make a multi-year financial contribution of core funding of no less than USD 15 million over three years. Participating members are defined as Member countries that are not contributing members.

India specific trivia:

GGGI has been working in India to promote green growth and sustainable development since 2013.

GGGI has worked at national, state, and city levels to develop and implement green growth strategies that reconcile short-term priorities with long-term vision of higher economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion

At the state level, GGGI worked closely with the governments of Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh (HP), and Punjab to develop comprehensive green growth strategies together with each.

GGGI also supported each of the three state governments in adopting integrated analytical approaches to assess green growth challenges and prioritize opportunities across key sectors, including energy, water, agriculture, and forestry

Building on these strategies, in 2015, GGGI supported the state governments in implementing specific green growth opportunities by formulating detailed project proposals, policy implementation roadmaps, and capacity building initiatives.

 

KIMO (Local Authorities International Environmental Organisation)

Established When and by Whom: KIMO was founded in August 1990 by four municipalities and from this modest start has grown in size to represent over 70 members in Belgium, Denmark, The Faroe Islands, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Headquarter: Esbjerg, Denmark

Key Functions:

• KIMO is committed to the development of sustainable coastal communities by:
• Preventing pollution of the seas and coastal waters of North-Western Europe and preserving, improving and enhancing them for future generations
• Protecting coastal communities from the impacts of marine pollution and climate change.
• Representing its member local authorities and associated members at an international and national level.

 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Established When and by Whom:   It was first established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly.

Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland

Key Functions:

• The IPCC produces reports that support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• IPCC reports cover all relevant information to understand the risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
• The IPCC does not carry out its own original research.
• Thousands of scientists and other experts contribute on a voluntary basis.
• The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in two equal parts, between the IPCC and an American Environmentalist.

The aims of the IPCC are to assess scientific information relevant to:

1. Human-induced climate change,
2. The impacts of human-induced climate change,
3. Options for adaptation and mitigation.

Funding: The IPCC receives funding through the IPCC Trust Fund, established in 1989 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

India specific trivia: India will have its own climate change models to project the impact of global warming over the decades and these will form part of the forthcoming Sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports that is expected to be available in 2020.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Established When and by Whom: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation.

Founded in 1948, today IUCN the largest professional global conservation network. IUCN has more than 1,200 member organizations including 200+ government and 900+ non-government organizations.

Headquarter: The Union’s headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.

Key Functions: Conserving biodiversity is central to the mission of IUCN. The main areas of function are:

1. Science  – the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
2. Action – hundreds of conservation projects all over the world.
3. Influence – through the collective strength of more than 1,200 government and non-governmental Member organizations.

Funding:  Funded by governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies, foundations, member organisations and corporations.

More about the IUCN

Governance by a Council elected by member organizations every four years at the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

Observer Status at the United Nations General Assembly.

India specific trivia:

• India became a State Member of IUCN in 1969, through the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• The IUCN India Country Office was established in 2007 in New Delhi.
• IUCN India works with Members and Commissions to reduce ecosystem and species loss by providing the necessary tools and knowledge to value, conserve and use biodiversity sustainability; enhance governance and policy for better management of ecosystems and habitats, including protected areas; and address challenges related to poverty alleviation, food security and climate change.

 

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Established When and by Whom: It was founded as a result of the UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) in 1972

Headquarter: Nairobi, Kenya

Key Functions:

• It coordinates UN’s environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices.
• Its activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, environmental governance and green economy.
• UNEP has also been active in funding and implementing environment related development projects
• UNEP has aided in the formulation of guidelines and treaties on issues such as the international trade in potentially harmful chemicals, transboundary air pollution, and contamination of international waterways
• UNEP is also one of several Implementing Agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol
• The International Cyanide Management Code, a program of best practice for the chemical’s use at gold mining operations, was developed under UNEP’s aegis.

Funding:  The three main sources of funding of UN Environment are the UN Regular Budget, the Environment Fund, the core funding that enables UN Environment to implement its global and regional work, and Earmarked Contributions.

India specific trivia: UN Environment has sponsored the development of solar loan programs, with attractive return rates, to buffer the initial deployment costs and entice consumers to consider and purchase solar PV systems.

The most famous example is the solar loan program sponsored by UN Environment helped 100,000 people finance solar power systems in India.

Success in India’s solar program has led to similar projects in other parts of the developing world like Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia and Mexico.

 

World Nature Organization (WNO)

Established When and by Whom:  WNO initiative was born in 2010 by states which are threatened by rising sea levels. The WNO Treaty officially entered into force on 1st May 2014.

Location : Geneva

Key Functions:

• It is an intergovernmental organisation which promotes global environmental protection.
• WNO acts as a centre of competence for environmental protection, green technologies and sustainability, and as a mediator and initiator, making available experience of practical applications and strategies, offering support on all issues related to responsible conduct as regards the natural environment and its resources and assisting States to benefit from efficient development and from scientific and technology transfer.
• The World Nature Organization  promotes sustainable conduct as regards the natural environment, together with new, environments-friendly technologies, green economies and renewable energies.

India specific trivia: India is not a member

World Food Programme

Established When and by Whom:  The WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly.

Headquarter: Rome

Key Functions:

• The WFP strives to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, with the ultimate goal in mind of eliminating the need for food aid itself.
• WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations.
• WFP food aid is also directed to fight micronutrient deficiencies, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and combat disease, including HIV and AIDS.
• WFP has coordinated the five-year Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot project which assists smallholder farmers by offering them opportunities to access agricultural markets and to become competitive players in the marketplace.

Funding:  The WFP operations are funded by voluntary donations from world governments, corporations and private donors

India specific trivia: The World Food Programme has been working in India for over 50 years. In line with the developments in India, WFP has realigned its focus from a food aid provider to a catalytic partner to the Government of India, strengthening food-based social safety nets.

 

International Whaling Organization

Established When and by Whom:  The IWC was set up under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling which was signed in Washington DC on 2nd December 1946.

Headquarter:

Key Functions:

• The preamble to the Convention states that its purpose is to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry.
• An integral part of the Convention is its legally binding ‘Schedule.’  The Schedule sets out specific measures that the IWC has collectively decided are necessary in order to regulate whaling and conserve whale stocks.
• These measures include catch limits (which may be zero as it the case for commercial whaling) by species and area, designating specified areas as whale sanctuaries, protection of calves and females accompanied by calves, and restrictions on hunting methods. Unlike the Convention, the Schedule can be amended and updated when the Commission meets (a change requires at least three quarters majority agreement).
• There are a number of reasons why changes to the Schedule may be necessary.  These include new information from the Scientific Committee, and variations in the requirements of aboriginal subsistence whalers.
• The Commission also co-ordinates and, in several cases, funds conservation work on many species of cetacean. In addition to research, this includes building an international entanglement response capacity, working to prevent ship strikes, and establishment of Conservation Management Plans for key species and populations.
• The Commission has also adopted a Strategic Plan for Whalewatching to facilitate the further development of this activity in a way which is responsible and consistent with international best practice.

Funding:  Financial contributions from member governments form the IWC’s core income, but additional voluntary donations to support particular work programmes are generously made by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), industry bodies, and also by member governments.

India specific trivia: India is a Member

Bio-carbon Fund initiative

Established When and by Whom:  The BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) is a multilateral fund, supported by donor governments and managed by the World Bank. It is has been operational from 2013.

Headquarter: USA

Key Functions:

• It seeks to promote reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the land sector, from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+), and from sustainable agriculture, as well as smarter land-use planning, policies and practices.
• The initiative will be managed by the BioCarbon Fund, a public-private program housed within the World Bank that mobilizes finance for activities that sequester or conserve carbon emissions in forest and agricultural systems.
• The new Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes seeks to scale up land-management practices across large landscapes, including improved livestock management, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable forest management, with a focus on protecting forests and greening and securing supply chains.
• It will engage a broader range of actors, including the private sector, initially through a portfolio of four to six programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Funding: Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States together committed $280 million – up to $135 million from Norway, $120 million from the U.K, and $25 million from the U.S. – as part of their efforts to slow climate change.

 

Arctic Council

Established When and by Whom: The Arctic Council was founded on the initiative of the Government of Finland in September 1989 where officials from the 8 Arctic Countries met in Rovaniemi, Finland, to discuss cooperative measures to protect the Arctic environment.

Headquarter: The location of the Secretariat was rotated biennially with the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

Key Functions:

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular on issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic.

The main focus areas of the Arctic Council are:

1. The Environment and climate change
2. Bio-diversity
3. Oceans
4. The indigenous Arctic peoples

Funding: By member states

India specific trivia: India is an Observer State

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GI Tags in News

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15 April 2020 

Geographical Indications in India

• A Geographical Indication is used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
• Such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
• This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
• Recently the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has launched the logo and tagline for the Geographical Indications (GI) of India.
• The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.
• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (GI Act) is a sui generis Act for the protection of GI in India.
• India, as a member of the WTO, enacted the Act to comply with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
• Geographical Indications protection is granted through the TRIPS Agreement.

Two well-known products from Tamil Nadu — Dindigul lock and Kandangi Saree — have been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by The Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai.

Dindigul lock

• The Dindigul locks are known throughout the world for their superior quality and durability, so much so that even the city is called Lock City.
• Government institutions such as prisons, godowns, hospitals, and even temples use these locks instead of other machine-made ones.
• The application for the lock was made by the Dindigul Lock, Hardware and Steel Furniture Workers Industrial Co-operative Society Limited.
• More than 3,125 lock manufacturing units are limited to an area of 5 km in and around Dindigul.
• The abundance of iron in this region is the reason for the growth of the industry.
• There are over 50 varieties of locks made by the artisans using raw materials such as MS flat plates and brass plates procured from the nearby towns, including Madurai and Salem.

The Kandangi sarees

• The Kandangi sarees are manufactured in the entire Karaikudi taluk in Sivaganga district.
• They are characterised by large contrast borders and some are known to have borders covering as far as two-thirds of the saree which is usually around 5.10 m-5.60 m in length.
• Worn in summer, these cotton sarees are usually bought by customers in bulk.
• The Amarar Rajeev Gandhi Handloom Weavers Co-operative Production and Sales Society Limited filed the application for the Kandangi saree.

Palani Panchamirtham

• PalaniPanchamirtham, an abishegaPrasadam, from Palani Town is one of the main offerings in the Abisegam of Lord Dhandayuthapani Swamy, the presiding deity of the Temple.
• It is a combination of five natural substances, namely, banana, jaggery sugar, cow ghee, honey and cardamom in a definite proportion.
• It is prepared in a natural method without addition of any preservatives or artificial ingredients and is well known for its religious fervour and gaiety.
• This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with the GI tag.

Tawlhlohpuan

• Tawlhlohpuan, a medium to heavy, compactly woven, good quality fabric from Mizoram is known for warp yarns, warping, weaving & intricate designs that are made by hand.
• Tawlhloh, in Mizo language, means ‘to stand firm or not to move backward’. Tawlhlohpuan, which holds high significance in the Mizo society, is produced throughout the state of Mizoram, Aizawl and Thenzawl town being the main centre of production.

Mizo Puanchei

• Mizo Puanchei, a colourful Mizo shawl/textile, from Mizoram, is considered as the most colourful among the Mizo textiles.
• It is an essential possession for every Mizo lady and an important marriage outfit in the state.
• It is also the most commonly used costume in Mizo festive dances and official ceremonies.
• The weavers insert the designs and motifs by using supplementary yarns while weaving to create this beautiful and alluring textile.

Tirur betel vine

• Tirur betel vine from Kerala is mainly cultivated in Tirur, Tanur, Tirurangadi, Kuttippuram, Malappuram and Vengara block panchayaths of Malappuram District.
• It is valued both for its mild stimulant action and medicinal properties.
• Even though it is commonly used for making pan masala for chewing, it has many medicinal, industrial and cultural usages and is considered as a remedy for bad breath and digestive disorders.

Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple gets GI tag

• The famous Palani panchamirtham, given as ‘prasadam’ at the Murugan temple at Palani has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
• This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been given the GI tag.

About the Panchamirtham

• It is sweet in taste and one of the main offerings for Lord Dhandayuthapani Swamy, the presiding deity of Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple, situated on Palani Hills.
• The panchamirtham is a combination of five natural substances — banana, jaggery, cow ghee, honey and cardamom.
• Dates and diamond sugar candies are added for flavour.
• The panchamirtham is an ‘abhishega prasadam’ (food that is a religious offering), which is served in a semi-solid state.
• Not even a single drop of water is added during the preparation of the panchamirtham.
• This gives it its classic semi-solid consistency and taste. No preservatives or artificial ingredients are used.

Pashmina

• Pashmina is a fine type of cashmere wool. The textiles made from it were first woven in Kashmir.
• The wool comes from a number of different breeds of the cashmere goat; such as the changthangi or Kashmir pashmina goat from the Changthang Plateau in Tibet and part of the Ladakh region and few parts of Himachal Pradesh.
• Often shawls called shahmina are made from this material in Kashmir and Nepal; these shawls are hand spun and woven from the very fine cashmere fibre.
• Traditional producers of pashmina wool are people known as the Changpa.

About Kodaikanal’s malai poondu Garlic

• Also known by its scientific name Allium Sativum, this particular garlic is known for its medicinal and preservative properties. It is grown in the Kodaikanal Hills, Dindugul district.
• It has anti-oxidant and anti-microbial potential, which is attributed to the presence of higher amount of organosulfur compounds, phenols and flavonoids compared to other garlic varieties.
• Its usually white or pale yellow and each bulb weighs 20-30g on an average.
• According to the GI application, Kodaikanal Hill Garlic cultivation is done twice in a year, once around May and for second time in November depending upon the suitability of the climate.
• The hill altitude, the misty condition and the soil prevailing in the Kodaikanal region are responsible for its medicinal property and the long storage shelf life of the garlic.

Kolhapuri Chappal

• According to the GI application made by the two states, Kolhapuris can be traced back to the 12th century King Bijjal who ruled Bidar in Karnataka.
• His prime minister Vishwaguru Basavanna wanted to create a casteless society and remove the stigma associated with the cobbler community.
• The community embraced Lingayat faith and used its creative skills to start producing footwear known equally for its ruggedness and regal bearing.
• Brand Kolhapuri came into being only in the beginning of 20th century when the footwear began to be traded in Kolhapur.
• Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (1874-1922) of Kolhapur encouraged its production and 29 tanning centres were opened during his rule in Kolhapur.

Kandhamal Haldi

• Kandhamal in Odisha’s southern hinterland is famed for its turmeric, a spice that enjoys its pride of place in an array of cuisines.
• The agricultural product also stands out for its healing properties and arresting aroma.
• The GI tag was primarily developed with the purpose of recognising the unique identity connecting different products and places.
• For a product to get GI tag it has to have a unique quality, reputation or characteristic which is attributable to its geographic origin. ‘Kandhamal Haldi’ has been placed under Class-30 type.

GI Tag for 5 Indian Coffee varieties

Coorg Arabica coffee 

• It is grown specifically in the region of Kodagu district in Karnataka.

Wayanaad Robusta coffee 

• It is grown specifically in the region of Wayanad district which is situated on the eastern portion of Kerala.

Chikmagalur Arabica coffee 

• It is grown specifically in the region of Chikmagalur district and it is situated in the Deccan plateau, belongs to the Malnad region of Karnataka.

Araku Valley Arabica coffee 

• It is coffee from the hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region at an elevation of 900-1100 Mt MSL.
• The coffee produce of Araku, by the tribals, follows an organic approach in which they emphasise management practices involving substantial use of organic manures, green manuring and organic pest management practices.

Bababudangiris Arabica coffee 

• It is grown specifically in the birthplace of coffee in India and the region is situated in the central portion of Chikmagalur district.
• Selectively hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation, the cup exhibits full body, acidity, mild flavour and striking aroma with a note of chocolate.
• This coffee is also called high grown coffee which slowly ripens in the mild climate and thereby the bean acquires a special taste and aroma.

Sirsi Arecanut

• It is cultivated in Yellapura, Siddapura and Sirsi taluks.
• Totgars’ Cooperative Sale Society Ltd., Sirsi, is the registered proprietor of the GI.
• The arecanut grown in these taluks have unique features like a round and flattened coin shape, particular texture, size, cross-sectional views, taste, etc.
• These features are not seen in arecanut grown in any other regions.

Shahi Litchi

• The lychee crop, which is available from May to June, is mainly cultivated in the districts of Muzaffarpur and surrounding districts.
• Cultivation of litchi covers approximately an area of about 25,800 hectares producing about 300,000 tonnes every year.
• India’s share in the world litchi market amounts to less than 1%.
• The names of the litchi produced in Muzaffarpur are Shahi and China.
• The fruits are known for excellent aroma and quality.

King of Mangoes gets GI tag

• Alphonso from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of  Maharashtra, is registered as Geographical Indication (GI).
• The king of mangoes, Alphonso, better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra, is in demand in domestic and international markets not only for its taste but also for pleasant fragrance and vibrant colour.
• It has long been one of the world’s most popular fruit and is exported to various countries including Japan, Korea and Europe.
• New markets such as USA and Australia have recently opened up.

GI Tag for Telangana

• The Chennai-based GI Registry gave Geographical Indication certificate for Warangal dhurries
• The shatranji carpets and jainamaaz prayer mats are made in Warangal

Specialty of carpets

• Bright colors, geometrically repetitive patterns and interlocking zigzag motifs in cotton and jute are the signature styles of the carpets
• One of the newest innovations by the weavers here is an adaptation of tie-dyed ikat techniques and hand-painted or block-printed kalamkari designs for the dhurries to save time and energy.

Kalamkari Paintings

• Kalamkari or qalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in Iran and
  India
• Its name originates in the Persian, which is derived from the words qalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship),
  meaning drawing with a pen
• There are two distinctive styles of kalamkari art in India – the Srikalahasti style and the Machilipatnam
  style
• The Srikalahasti style of kalamkari, wherein the &quot;kalam&quot; or pen is used for freehand drawing of the
  subject and filling in the colors is entirely hand worked
• The Pedana Kalamkari craft made at Pedana nearby Machilipatnam in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh,
  evolved with the patronage of the Mughals and the Golconda sultanate

 

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Important IR Pacts in News

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14 April 2020 

BRICS Interbank Cooperation mechanism

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the signing of the (i) Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement and (ii) Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Ratings by Exim Bank with participating member banks under BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.
• As both the Agreement and the MoU are umbrella pacts, and are non-binding in nature, the Board of Directors of Exim Bank has been authorized to negotiate and conclude any individual contracts and commitments within their framework.

Impact

• The Agreements will promote multilateral interaction within the area of mutual interest whichØ will deepen political and economic relations with BRICS nations.
• Signing of the Agreement will position Exim Bank in the international platform along with largeØ development finance institutions, like CDS, VEB and BNDES.
• Exim Bank, leveraging this umbrella agreement, could enter into bilateral agreement with any ofØ these member institutions to raise resources for its business.
• As and when an opportunity arises for co-financing in commercial terms, by any two memberØ institutions (say India and South Africa), lending in single currency by both the institutions would also be possible.

BRICS ‘Beijing Declaration on Education

• BRICS ministers of education and assigned representatives have adopted ‘Beijing Declaration on Education’ in the 5th meeting of BRICS Ministers of education at Beijing.
• The Indian delegation was led by Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD).
• According to the declaration, member states are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4)-Education 2030 which aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all”.
• The declaration reiterated support for the BRICS Network University (NU) to collaborate in the fields of education, research and innovation.
• It also encouraged universities to participate in the BRICS University League.
• BRICS member states also decided to increase cultural cooperation through language education and multilingualism.

INDIA-ASEAN: REVIEW OF FREE TRADE PACT

• India and South Korea concluded two agreements on defence educational exchanges and extension of logistical support to each other’s Navies, during recent India defence minister’s visit to Seoul.

BRICS Leaders’ Xiamen Declaration              

• 9th BRICS summit was held in Xiamen, China. This is the second time China has hosted
• the summit after the 2011 summit.
• At the end of the summit, Xiamen declaration was adopted by the leaders of the five countries.

Highlights of the Xiamen declaration:

• BRICS countries will strive towards broad partnerships with emerging markets and developing countries.
• To promote the development of BRICS local currency bond markets and to jointly establish a
• BRICS local currency bond fund and also to facilitate financial market integration.
• Explorations toward the establishment of the BRICS Institute of Future Networks.
• To strengthen BRICS cooperation on energy and work to foster open, flexible and transparent markets for energy commodities and technologies.
• BRICS Agriculture Research Platform is proposed to be established in India.
• To establish a genuinely broad counterterrorism coalition and support the UN’s central coordinating role in this regard.
• Importance of people-to-people exchanges in promoting development and enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation.
• To work together to promote most effective use of fossil fuels and wider use of gas, hydro and nuclear power.

Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement:

• The initial Master Agreement on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currency under the BRICS.
• Interbank Cooperation Mechanism had a validity of five years, which has expired in March 2017.
• It is understood that some of the member banks (like CDB and VEB; CDB and BNDES) have entered into bilateral agreements for local currency financing under the Master Agreement signed in 2012.
• Although the current conditions are not conducive to usage, it was useful to keep the same alive as an enabling feature in case a suitable opportunity materializes in future.
• Exim Bank raises resources in the off-shore market in diverse currencies and swaps to mitigate the risk.
• The umbrella Agreement would serve as an enabler to enter into bilateral agreements with member banks subject to national laws, regulations and internal policies of the signatories.
• Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Ratings:
• It would enable sharing of credit ratings amongst the BRICS member banks, based on the request received from another bank.
• This would be an ideal mechanism to mitigate the credit risks associated with cross-border financing.
• In future, such a mechanism could also serve as pre-cursor to the proposal of having an alternate rating agency by BRICS nations.

UN’s Global Compact on Migration

• The global compact for migration is the first, intergovernmental negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
• In the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted in September 2016, the General
• Assembly decided to develop a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
• The global compact is a significant opportunity to improve the governance on migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development.
• The global compact is framed consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
• Development in which member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration.

BANGLADESH, BHUTAN, INDIA, NEPAL (BBIN) INITIATIVE

• It is the regional sub-grouping India had planned for ease of access among the four countries.
• The agreement will permit the member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers, including third-country transport and personal vehicles.

Members and Structure

• Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are the members of BBIN initiative. These all are members of SAARC grouping as well.
• It was an alternative proposed by the government after Pakistan rejected the Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) at the SAARC summit in Kathmandu in 2014.
• Of the other SAARC members, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are not connected by land, and Afghanistan could only be connected if Pakistan was on board.

BANGLADESH–CHINA–INDIA–MYANMAR FORUM FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION (BCIM)

• BCIM is a sub-regional organisation of Asian nations aimed at greater integration of trade and investment between the four countries.
• The idea was given a shape in the form of BCIM forum in 1999 in the first ‘Kunming Initiative’, the capital of Chinese Yunnan province.
• The aim of the forum was to create a platform for discussion among the major stakeholders regarding issues concerning trade and growth in the region, strengthen cooperation and institutionalize the arrangements to deepen BCIM ties.
• On December 18, 2013, the four nations drew up a long-discussed plan, emphasising the need to quickly improve physical connectivity in the region, over two days of talks in the south-western Chinese city of Kunming— the provincial capital of Yunnan, which borders Myanmar.
• This marked the formal endorsement on the BCIM-EC by the four nations, whereby it was agreed that the corridor will run from Kunming to Kolkata, linking Mandalay in Myanmar as well as Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh.
• The 2,800 square kilometer multi-modal corridor was to be the first expressway between India and China, passing through Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Members and Structure

• Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar are the members of this grouping.

MEKONG-GANGA COOPERATION (MGC)

History

• The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications.
• The proposal for the formation of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) was finalized by the foreign ministers of the six members at the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Bangkok, Thailand, in July 2000.
• It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR.
• Both the Ganga and the Mekong are civilizational rivers, and the MGC initiative aims to facilitate closer contacts among the people inhabiting these two major river basins.

Members and Structure

• The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
• The institutional structure of the MGC is yet to evolve properly.
• Ministerial Meetings would be held annually back-to-back with the AMMs.
• The chairmanship will be rotated in alphabetical order.
• The country which serves as chair shall act as the Secretariat to carry out coordination and implementation of the Cooperation plan.

 EAST ASIA SUMMIT

History

• The East Asia Summit is a unique Leaders-led forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity.
• It was established in 2005.
• India is a founding member of the East Asia Summit.
• Initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian regions were the members of the forum.
• The membership expanded to 18 countries including the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
• EAS is seen by India as an alternative to the APEC, in which India doesn’t enjoy the membership.

Members and Structure

• All 10 ASEAN members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
• 6 Regional partners: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
• 2 Superpowers US, Russia (from 2011 onwards)

ASIA COOPERATION DIALOGUE

HISTORY

• The ACD is a continent-wide forum, the first of its kind in Asia.
• The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) was inaugurated in June 2002 in Cha-Am, Thailand.
• The ACD aims to constitute the missing link in Asia by incorporating every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other organizations or creating a bloc against others. India was among the founding members of the group.

HEADQUARTERS

The Provisional Secretariat was inaugurated in October 2013 with its Headquarter in Kuwait city, the State of Kuwait.

MEMBERS

• Currently, the ACD comprises 34 countries:
• Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Turkey and is awaiting the accession of Nepal as the 34th Member on March 2016 at the 14th Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

 NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

History

• The North American Free Trade Agreement is an agreement, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
• NAFTA went into effect on January 1, 1994.
• This agreement was an expansion of the earlier Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989.
• NAFTA does not create a set of super-national governmental bodies, nor does it create a body of law which is superior to national law, which was the case with EU.
• NAFTA is a treaty under international law.
• The goal of NAFTA was to eliminate barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Headquarters

• The NAFTA Secretariat is comprised of: the Canadian Section located in Ottawa; the Mexican Section located in Mexico City; and. the United States Section located in Washington, D.C.

Members and Structure: Canada, Mexico, the United States

Bunker Convention

• The convention was adopted in 2001 and came into force in 2008.
• Its aim is to ensure that adequate, prompt, and effective compensation is available to persons who suffer damage caused by spills of oil, when carried as fuel in ships’ bunkers.
• It applies to damage caused on the territory, including the territorial sea, and in exclusive economic zones of States Parties.
• It is modelled on the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969.
• Upon ratification, it applies to an Indian vessel, wherever it is situated, and to a foreign flag vessel while it is within Indian jurisdiction.
• 2015 – India ratified in 2015, the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 (Bunker Convention) which ensures adequate, prompt and effective compensation for damage caused by oil spills.

Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty

• The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted recently in the United Nations
• It is the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for complete nuclear disarmament.
• Even the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and nuclear-weapon-free zone contains only partial prohibitions.
• This treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
• It also prohibits the use or threat of use of these weapons as well.
• 122 of the 124 nations that participated in the negotiations had voted in favour of the treaty.
• The treaty will enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.
• The eight nuclear weapon states i.e US, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan and North Korea along with Israel had not participated in the negotiations.
• India maintained that it recognises the „Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament‟-(CD) as the single multilateral disarmament negotiation forum & it is not convinced of the potential of the current treaty to address the disarmament issue.

New START Treaty

• New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation.
• The formal name of the treaty is Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
• It was signed on 2010 in Prague and entered into force in 2011, it is expected to last at least until 2021.
• New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT).
• Under terms of the treaty, the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half.
• A new inspection and verification regime will be established, replacing the SORT mechanism.
• It does not limit the number of operationally inactive stockpiled nuclear warheads that remain in the high thousands in both the Russian and American inventories

Budapest Convention

• It is the sole legally binding multilateral treaty that coordinates cybercrime investigations between nation-states and criminalises certain cybercrime conduct.
• The convention is led by Council of Europe, which is distinct from European Union.
• Both members and non-members of Council of Europe are parties to the convention.
• Totally 64 nations are party to this convention and 3 countries have signed but yet to ratify the convention.
• India, Russia and China are not members to this convention.

TIR Convention

• Transports Internationaux Routiers Convention is an international transit system under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
• It came into force from 1975to facilitate the seamless movement of goods within and amongst the Parties to the Convention.
• It facilitates the international carriage of goods from one or more customs offices of departure to one or more customs offices of destination and through as many countries as necessary.
• India also ratified the convention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Important Amendments in the Indian Constitution

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13 April 2020 

First Amendment Act, 1951

• Empowered the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and economically backward classes.
• Provided for the saving of laws providing for the acquisition of estates, etc.
• Added Ninth Schedule to protect the land reforms and other laws included in it from the judicial review. After Article 31, Articles 31A and 31B were inserted.

The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956

• The Seventh Amendment brought about the most comprehensive changes so far in the Constitution. This amendment was designed to implement the State Reorganisation Act.
• The Second and Seventh schedules were substantially amended for the purpose of the States Reorganization Act.

Constitutional (10th Amendment) Act, 1961

• The Tenth Amendment integrates the areas of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli with the Union of India and provides for their administration under the regulation of making powers of the President.

Constitutional (13th Amendment) Act,1963

• Gave the status of a state to Nagaland and made special provisions for it.

The Constitution (24th Amendment) Act, 1971

• It amended Article 13 and 368 with a view to removing all possible doubts regarding the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedure thereof.
• It gets over the Golak Nath ruling and asserts the power of Parliament, denied to in the Golak Nath, to amend Fundamental Rights.

The Constitution (Twenty-fifth) Amendment Act, 1971

• The 25th amendment of the Constitution in 1971 added a new clause, Article 31C to the Constitution. Up to 1971, the position was that Fundamental Rights prevailed over the Directive Principles of State Policy and that a law enacted to implement a Directive Principle could not be valid if it conflicted with a Fundamental Right.
• Article 31C sought to change this relationship to some extent by conferring primacy on Articles 39(b) and 39(c) over Articles 14, 19 and 31.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment Act, 1971

• Abolished the privy purses and privileges of the former rulers of princely states.

The Constitution (Thirty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1974

• By this amendment twenty State Acts concerning land ceiling and land tenure reforms were added to the Ninth Schedule to the Constitution.

The Constitution (Thirty-eight Amendment) Act, 1975 

• Made the declaration of emergency by the President non-justiciable.
• Made the promulgation of ordinances by the President, governors and administrators of Union territories non-justiciable.
• Empowered the President to declare different proclamations of national emergency on different grounds simultaneously

The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976

• The Amendment was meant to enhance enormously the strength of the Government. The major Amendments made in the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment Act are: Preamble The characterization of India as ‘Sovereign Democratic Republic’ has been changed to ‘Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic’.
• The words ‘Unity of the nation’ have been changed to ‘Unity and integrity of the nation’.
• Parliament and State Legislatures: The life of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies was extended from 5 to 6 years.
• Executive: It amended Article 74 to State explicitly that the President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers in the discharge of his functions.
• Judiciary: The 42nd Amendment Act inserted Article 32A in order to deny the Supreme Court the power to consider the Constitutional validity of the State law. Another new provision, Article 131A, gave the Supreme Court an exclusive jurisdiction to determine question relating to the Constitutional validity of a central laws. Article 144A and Article 128A, the creatures
  of the Constitutional Amendment Act made further innovation in the area of judicial review of the Constitutionality of legislation. Under Article 144A, the minimum number of judges of the Supreme Court to decide a question of  Constitutional validity of a Central or State law was fixed as at least seven and further, this required two-thirds majority of the judges sitting declare law as unconstitutional. While the power  of the High Court to enforce Fundamental Rights remained untouched, several restrictions were imposed on its power to issue writs ‘for any other purpose’.
• Federalism: The Act added Article 257A in the Constitution to enable the Centre to deploy any armed force of the Union, or any other force under its control for dealing with any grave situation of law and order in any State.
• Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles: A major change that was made by42nd Constitutional Amendment was to give primacy to all Directive Principles over the Fundamental Rights contained in Articles 14, 19 or 31.
• The 42nd Constitutional Amendment added a few more Directive Principles – free legal aid, participations of workers in the management of industries, protection for environment and protection of forests and wildlife of the country.
• Fundamental Duties: The 42nd Amendment Act inserted Article 51-A to create a new part called IV-A in the Constitution, which prescribed the Fundamental Duties to the citizens.
• Emergency: Prior to the 42nd Amendment Act, the President could declare an emergency under Article 352 throughout the country and not in a part of the country alone. The Act authorized the President to proclaim emergency in any part of the country.

The Constitution (44th Amendment) Act, 1978

• It reduced the life of Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies again to five years and thus restore the status quo ante.
• It cancelled 39th Amendment which had deprived the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction to decide disputes concerning election of the President and the Vice-President
• A new provision was added to Article 74(1) saying that the President could require the council of ministers to reconsider its advice to him, either generally or otherwise and the President should Act in accordance with the advice tendered after such re-consideration. Article 257A was Omitted
• It has been provided that an Emergency can be proclaimed only on the basis of written advice tendered to the President by the Cabinet.
• Right to Property has been taken out from the list of Fundamental Rights and has been declared a legal right.

The Constitution (Fifty-first Amendment) Act, 1984

• The Amendment effectuates some changes in Articles 330 and 332 with a view to provide for reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha for Scheduled Tribes in Meghalaya, Aruncahal Pradesh and Mizoram, as well as in the Legislative Assemblies of Nagaland and Meghalaya.

The Constitution (52nd Amendment) Act, 1985

• The amendment is designed to prevent the scourge of defection of Members of Parliament and State Legislatures from one political party to another.

 The Constitution (61st Amendment) Act, 1989

• The 61st Amendment reduces the voting age from 21 years to 18 years for the Lok Sabha and Assembly election.

The Constitution (Sixty-fifth Amendment) Act, 1990

• Article 338 of the Constitution has been amended for the Constitution of a National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes consisting of a chairperson, vice-chairperson and five other members who shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991

• The Amendment Act was to grant Statehood to Delhi as ‘National Capital Territory of Delhi’. It also provides a 70 member assembly and a 7 member Council of Ministers for Delhi.

 The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992

• April 20,1993 as it got rectification by the State legislatures and was assented to by the President of India. After notification, the Panchayati Raj Institutions have now got Constitutional legitimacy.
• After part VIII of the Constitution, a separate part IX has been added to the Constitution with the addition in Article 243A and fresh Schedule called Eleventh Schedule enumerating the powers and functions of Panchayti Raj Institutions.
• The Act provides for Gram Sabha, a three-tier model of Panchayati Raj, reservation of seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their population and one-third reservation of seats for women.

The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992

• The Act provides constitutional status to Urban Local Bodies. After part VIII of the Constitution, a separate part IXA has been added to the Constitution with the addition in Article 243A and a fresh schedule called Twelfth schedule enumerating the powers and functions of urban local bodies has been incorporated.
• The Act provides Municipal Panchayat, Municipal Council and Municipal Corporation, reservation of seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their population and one-third reservation of seats for women

The Constitution (76th Amendment) Act, 1994

• This Amendment Act raises the reservation quota of government jobs and seats for admission in the educational institutions in favor of socially and educationally backward classes to 69 per cent in Tamil Nadu.
• Further, the Amendment Act has been included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to exempt it from the purview of judicial scrutiny

The Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995

• This Amendment has added a new clause (4-a) to Article 16 of the Constitution which empowers the State to make any provisions for reservation in promotions in Government jobs in favour of SCs and STs, if it is of opinion that they are inadequately represented in the services under the State.
• This has been done to nullify the effect of the Supreme Court Judgment in the Mandal Commission Case (Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India) in which the Court has held that reservation in promotions cannot be made.

The Constitution (80th Amendment) Act, 2000

• Based on the recommendations of the Tenth Finance Commission, an alternative scheme for sharing taxes between the Union and the State has been enacted by the Constitution (Eightieth Amendment) Act, 2000.
• Under the new scheme of devolution of revenue between Union and the States, 26 per cent out of gross proceeds of Union taxes and duties is to be assigned to the States in lieu of their existing share in the income-tax, excise duties special excise duties and grants in lieu of tax on railway passenger fares. 

The Constitution (85^th Amendment) Act, 2001

• This Act amended Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution to provide for consequential seniority in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reservation for Government servants belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

The Constitution (86^th Amendment) Act, 2002

• With a view to making right to free and compulsory education a fundamental right, the Act inserts a new Article, namely, Article 21A conferring on all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years the right to free and compulsory education.
• The Act amends in Part-III, Part –IV and Part-IV(A) of the Constitution.

The Constitution (89^th Amendment) Act, 2003

• The Act adds Article 338A and provides for the creation of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

 The Constitution (90^th Amendment) Act, 2003

• The Act amends Article 332 and adds section (6) regarding representation in the Bodo Territorial Areas District in the State of Assam.

The Constitution (Ninety-one Amendment) Act,2003

• The Act makes provisions for limiting the size of the Council of Ministers at the Center and in the States and gives teeth to debar a defector from holding any remunerative political post for the remaining tenure of the legislature unless reelected.

The Constitution (Ninety- third Amendment) Act, 2005

• Providing reservation for the socially and educationally backward classes, besides the Schedules Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in private unaided educational institutions.

The Constitution (97th Amendment) Act, 2012

• In Part IIIof the constitution, after the words “or unions” the words “Cooperative Societies” was added.
• In Part IVa new Article 43Bwas inserted, which says: The state shall endeavour to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of the co-operative societies”.
• After Part IXAof the constitution, a Part IXBwas inserted to accommodate state vs centre roles.

The Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014

• The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was established by the Union government of India by amending the constitution of India through the 99^th Constitutional Amendment Act, 201

The Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015

• Constitution (100th Amendment) Act 2015 ratified the land boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh.
• The act amended the 1st schedule of the constitution to exchange the disputed territories occupied by both the nations in accordance with the 1974 bilateral Land Boundary Agreement.
• India received 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (covering 7,110 acres) in the Indian mainland, while Bangladesh received 111 Indian enclaves (covering 17,160 acres) in the Bangladeshi mainland

The Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2017

• Introduced the Goods and Services Tax.

The Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018

• Constitutional status to National Commission for Backward Classes

The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019

• A maximum of 10% Reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWSs) of citizens of classes other than the classes mentioned in clauses (4) and (5) of Article 15, i.e. Classes other than socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
• Inserted Clause [6] under Article 15 as well as Inserted Clause [6] under Article 16.

 

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Important Keywords Regarding Budgeting, Fiscal Policy, and Taxation – Part 2

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11 April 2020 

Fiscal Performance Index (FPI)

• The composite FPI developed by CII is an innovative tool using multiple indicators to examine the quality of Budgets at the Central and State levels.
• The index has been constructed using UNDP’s Human Development Index methodology which comprises six components for holistic assessment of the quality of government budgets, subsidies, pensions and defence in GDP
• Quality of capital expenditure: measured by the share of capital expenditure (other than defence) in GDP
• Quality of revenue: the ratio of net tax revenue to GDP (own tax revenue in case of States)
• Degree of fiscal prudence I: fiscal deficit to GDP
• Degree of fiscal prudence II: revenue deficit to GDP and
• Debt index: Change in debt and guarantees to GDP

Other measures of FPI

• As per the new index, expenditure on infrastructure, education, healthcare and other social sectors can be considered beneficial for economic growth.

Sabka Vishwas-Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme

• This Scheme is introduced to resolve and settle legacy cases of the Central Excise and Service Tax.
• The proposed scheme would cover all the past disputes of taxes which may have got subsumed in GST; namely Central Excise, Service Tax and Cesses.
• The Government expects the Scheme to be availed by a large number of taxpayers for closing their pending disputes relating to legacy Service Tax and Central Excise cases that are now subsumed under GST so they can focus on GST.
• The Scheme is, especially, tailored to free a large number of small taxpayers of their pending disputes with the tax administration.

Components of the Scheme

• The two main components of the Scheme are dispute resolution and amnesty.
• The dispute resolution component is aimed at liquidating the legacy cases of Central Excise and Service Tax that are subsumed in GST and are pending in litigation at various forums.
• The amnesty component of the Scheme offers an oppor­tunity to the taxpayers to pay the outstanding tax and be free of any other consequence under the law.
• The most attractive aspect of the Scheme is that it provides substantial relief in the tax dues for all categories of cases as well as full waiver of interest, fine, penalty,
• In all these cases, there would be no other liability of interest, fine or penalty. There is also a complete amnesty from prosecution.

Direct Tax Code:

• The Direct Tax Code (DTC) is an attempt by the Govern­ment of India to simplify the direct tax laws in India.
• It will revise, consolidate and simplify the structure of direct tax laws in India into a single legislation.
• When implemented, it will replace the Income-tax Act, 1961 (ITA), and other direct tax legislation like the Wealth Tax Act, 1957.
• The task force was constituted by the government to frame draft legislation for this proposed DTC in November 2017 and review the existing Income Tax Act.

Direct Tax:

• These are the taxes, paid directly to the government by the taxpayer. Under the direct tax system, the incidence and impact of taxation fall on the same entity, which cannot be transferred to another person.
• It is termed as a progressive tax because the proportion of tax liability rises as an individual or entity’s income increases.
• Examples- Income tax, corporate tax, Dividend Distri­bution Tax, Capital Gain Tax, Security Transaction Tax.
• The system of Direct taxation is governed by the Cen­tral Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). It is a part of the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

Corporate Tax

• A corporate tax also popularly known as the company tax or the corporation tax is the tax levied on the capital or income of corporations or analogous legal entities.
• In most countries, such taxes are levied at the national level, and a tax that is similar to that imposed at the na­tional level could be imposed at the local or state levels.
• The taxes could also be termed as capital tax or income tax.
• Generally, Partnership firms are not taxed at the entity level.
• In most of the nations, the corporations functioning in a country are taxed for the income from that country.
• Many countries tax all income of corporations incorpo­rated in the country or those deemed to be resident for tax purposes in the country.
• The income of the company that is to be taxed is computed similarly to the taxable income for individuals.
• Tax is generally imposed on net profits.
• In India, companies, both private and public which are registered in India under the Companies Act 1956, are liable to pay corporate tax.

Securities transaction tax (STT)

• Sale of any asset (shares, property) results in loss or profit. Depending on the time the asset is held, such profits and losses are categorised as long-term or short-term capital gain/loss.
• In Budget 2004-05, the government abolished long-term capital gains tax on shares (tax on profits made on the sale of shares held for more than a year) and replaced it with STT.
• It is a kind of turnover tax where the investor has to pay a small tax on the total consideration paid/received in a share transaction.

Banking cash transaction tax (BCTT)

• Introduced in Budget 2005-06, BCTT is a small tax on cash withdrawal from bank exceeding a particular amount in a single day.
• The basic idea is to curb the black economy and generate a record of big cash transactions

Cess

• This is an additional levy on the basic tax liability Governments resort to cess for meeting specific expenditure. For instance, both corporate and individual income is at present subject to an education cess of 2%.
• In the last Budget, the government had imposed another 1% cess – secondary and higher education cess on income tax – to finance secondary and higher education.

Countervailing Duties (CVD)

• Countervailing duty is a tax imposed on imports, over and above the basic import duty CVD is at par with the excise duty paid by the domestic manufacturers of similar goods
• This ensures a level playing field between imported goods and locally-produced ones.
• An exemption from CVD places the domestic industry at the disadvantage and over long run discourages investments in affected sectors.

Export Duty

• This is a tax levied on exports. In most instances, the object is not revenue, but to discourage exports of certain items.
• In the last Budget, for instance, the government imposed an export duty of Rs 300 per metric tonne on the export of iron ores and concentrates and Rs 2,000 per metric tonne on the export of chrome ores and concentrates.

Pass-through Status

• A pass-through status helps avoid double taxation. Mutual funds, for instance, enjoy pass-through status.
• The income earned by the funds is tax-free. Since mutual funds’ income is distributed to the unit-holders, who are in turn taxed on their income from such investments any taxation of mutual funds would amount to double taxation.
• Essentially, it means the income is merely passing through the mutual funds and, therefore, should not be taxed.
• The government allows venture funds in some sectors pass-through status to encourage investments in start-ups.

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Important Temples/Monasteries/Stupa/Caves

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10 April 2020

1. Important Temples/Monasteries/Stupa/Caves- Click2view

2. Important Historical Sculptures- Click2view

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Important IR Terms in News

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9 April 2020

APC Network: Association for Progressive Communications comprises more than 20,000 subscribers to electronic listservers in 95 countries, and have recently been very much involved in agitating for global development and democratization of the United Nations

Balance of payments: The net flow of goods, services and financial transactions that takes into account outflows and inflows of money from a state

Balance of payments deficit: a state spends more than it receives from other countries

Balance of payments surplus: a state receives more than it spends in other countries

Balance of power: a condition in which the distribution of military and political forces among nations means no one state is sufficiently strong to dominate all the others. It may be global, regional or local in scope

Bargaining power: the general capacity of a state to control the behaviour of others, power to cause another actor to do an action (also see structural power)

Biodiversity: two kinds: species and genetic diversity, species diversity refers to the differences between species, while genetic diversity refers to differences within species

Brezhnev Doctrine: reinforced the right of the Soviets to intervene where Moscow deemed socialism was threatened by ‘counter-revolutionary forces’

Brundtland Commission Report: published 1987, commissioned 1983 with Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, as commissioner, a mandate was to look into the alarming rate at which environmental resources were being consumed,  the levels of their waste, particularly in the case of development, at the ways in which developing countries were falling further and further behind the industrialized world in their standards of living, coined term ‘sustainable development’

Cold War: The period in world affairs from c.1947-1990, marked by ideological, economic and political hostility and competition between the US and the Soviet Union, and drawing in other powers at various levels of involvement

Common unit of exchange: a currency in which international economic exchanges are valued

Comparative advantage: Doctrine says that states should 1) produce and export whatever they can produce most efficiently relative to other states i.e., whatever they have a comparative advantage in; and they should 2) import those things they can’t produce as efficiently from states that can

Concert of Europe: the informal system of consultation set up by the Great Powers (Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and Russia) to manage the balance of power at the end of the Congress system

Conflict: perceived rival and incompatible claims over some desired “good”

Congress of Vienna: meeting of the four main victors over Napoleon and France: Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia.

Containment: policy pursued by the US toward the Soviet Union c. 1947-1989, the aim of which was to deny Moscow opportunities to expand its political influence abroad, to draw a line and contain the Soviets within their borders, (also see Truman Doctrine )

CSCE: Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, from 1973-75 all European states (except Albania) plus the US and Canada met to discuss regional security (now the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and one of the central security organizations in Europe

D5: denuclearization, demilitarization, dealignment, democratization, and development, five main goals of peace and social movements

Defence strategy: involves the assumption that war will be fought with three aims in mind: 1. to punish the aggressor 2. to deny territorial gains 3. to limit the damage to oneself (also see deterrence)

Deterrence: efforts of an actor to dissuade the opponent from doing something considered against the actor’s interests by making the costs of action outweigh the benefits with the threat of punishment, the implicit or explicit purpose of this strategy was to avoid actually fighting the war (also see defence)

The Doctrine of Flexible Response: a nuclear utilization strategy which legitimized the notion of limited nuclear war, involved two dimensions: limited targetting (‘counterforce strategy’) and the use of battlefield nuclear weapons (also see MAD)

Dollar overhang: the amount of US dollars overseas exceeded US reserves of gold, undermining dollar convertibility to gold

Ethnic group: a group of people who define themselves as distinct from other groups because of cultural differences

Eurodollar markets: free market where buyers and sellers exchange currencies outside of their country of origin

Exchange rate: value at which one currency is traded for another

Fixed exchange rate: the rate of exchange of a currency or currency is set by agreement between governments or by government policy (see also gold standard)

Floating exchange rate: the rate of exchange of currencies is permitted to rise and fall with supply and demand on the international private market

Free trade: means the buying or selling of goods and services across international borders with few or no restrictions (see also protectionism)

Fungibility: the extent to which one form of power can be converted into another

GATT: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, drawn up in 1947 to codify the rules of conduct in trade for its members, in the GATT, states agreed to negotiate “reciprocal and mutually advantageous arrangements directed to the substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade” and to increase free and fair trade

Glasnost: ‘openness’, a term introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev about his post-1985 opening of Soviet society to dissidents, public criticism and limited admission of past Soviet mistakes (also see perestroika)

Gold standard: the value of a currency is fixed relative to an amount of gold, can be converted to gold at a fixed rate (see also fixed exchange rates)

GSP: Generalized System of Preferences: early 1970’s nineteen advanced industrial states agreed to eliminate tariffs on manufactured and semi-manufactured goods exported by 140 LDCs unilaterally for ten years, renewed during 1980s for another decade (see UNCTAD, IPC)

Holy Roman Emperor: the supreme secular authority in Medieval Europe

Hugo Grotius (1583-1645): the ‘father’ of international law, a Dutch jurist, humanist and diplomat His great work ‘On the Law of War and Peace’ is widely regarded as a landmark in the development of international law

HYV’s: high-yielding varieties of agricultural plants, genetically designed to produce higher quantities of product with the aid of fertilizer, pesticides, and mechanized agricultural methods

ICBM’s: inter-continental ballistic missiles

IPC: Integrated Programme for Commodities, concerted attempt to control price fluctuations in commodities on which LDC’s depended for foreign exchange income (see UNCTAD, GSP)

LDC: Less Developed Country

MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction, a strategic doctrine which guarantees that each side in a nuclear exchange would survive a first strike by its opponent with enough arms intact to launch a second-strike sufficient to destroy the aggressor (also see Doctrine of Flexible Response)

massive retaliation: a nuclear strategy which calls for a nuclear response to any aggressive action

MFN: Most Favoured Nation: every member is treated as well as the “most favoured one”: ie: if U.S. offers low tariff to Canada on ice cubes: every other GATT member is entitled to the same treatment (see also free trade, GATT)

MIRV’S: multiple independently targetted re-entry vehicles (see also ICBM’S)

monetarism: a policy of manipulating the money supply (inflating or deflating a currency) to influence economic growth

monoculture: refers to the use of one genetic strain of plant or animal to replace a diversity of strains

Multiple-sum game: both actors can mutually gain (also see zero sum game)

Natural law: the idea there existed rights and duties attached to human beings as such that existed in all times and all places, that could be discovered by reason, and that should be applied in the relations between groups

Negative peace: the absence of war and physical (direct) violence (also see positive peace)

Netwar: the primary objective of “netwar” is to use computer networks and databases to inflict cultural and political damage to the international image of the opponent.

News values: the criteria for determining what kinds of stories are reported; used to identify, define and present a story

NIEO: United Nations Resolution of May 1974 for a New International Economic Order to address concerns of LDC’s

Non-Aligned Movement: loose organization of Third World countries which dealt with statements on a wide variety of issues from nuclear proliferation to trade and development, first meeting: Bandung, Indonesia, 1955, led by a few relatively strong, independent personalities: Tito, Nehru, and Nasser (Yugoslavia, India, Egypt) (see also UNCTAD, NIEO)

Non-governmental organization (NGO): any private organization involved in activities that have transnational implications
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Nuclear fusion: relies on forcing two hydrogen atoms together, and in the process destroying some extra matter that is converted into energy (called H-bomb)

NWIO: New World Information and Communication Order, begun in the 1970s around the same time as the Group of 77 launched its drive for a NIEO, called for a more balanced flow of communications globally, development of communication infrastructure in LDC’s, control or elimination of information monopolies, and respect for each people’s cultural identity

OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, organization of 29 industrialized countries

OPEC: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies: A cartel of oil producers formed to control the price and supply of oil on world markets

Perestroika: ‘restructuring’, a term used by Mikhail Gorbachev to describe his plans to reform, modernize and partly decentralize the Soviet economy (also see glasnost)

Positive peace: the absence of structural violence as well as direct violence (see also negative peace)

Protectionism: protecting your economy from the international economy by imposing various restrictions on the flow of imports or exports of goods or services into or out of your country (see also free trade)

Reserve currency: a currency that countries hold in reserve because of its strength and stability

Security dilemma: a situation in which states’ actions taken to assure their own security, tend to threaten the security of other states

Self-help: necessity to rely on a the states’ own resources and capabilities

SLBM’s: submarine-launched ballistic missiles

specie money: solid money (gold or silver, traditionally)

spheres of influence: an area declared by a Great Power to be its exclusive area of interest, where it acts to defend its dominance and to exclude other Great Powers.

SOP’s: standard operating procedures

Sovereignty: means a government has the right, at least in principle, to do whatever it liks in its own territory (also see state)

Structural power: the power to change the rules of the game for others, the power to structure the choices of other actors

Structural violence: latent or hidden forms of social conflict

Stockholm Conference: UN Conference on the Human Environment, held 1972, was first worldwide environmental conference in history

Sustainable development: term coined by Brundtland Commission Report 1987, defined as development which can “ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Terms of trade: the ratio in prices between a country’s exports and its imports

Truman Doctrine: a promise of US aid to all ‘free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside powers” (also see Brezhnev Doctrine)

UNCED: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio 1992. Effort by the int. Community to reach consensus on principles and a long-term workplan for global sustainable development, major output was Agenda 21 (referring to the Twenty-First Century), a global plan of action containing 294 pages encompassing every sectoral environmental issues as well as international policies affecting both environment and development and the full range of domestic social and economic policies.

UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: formed 1964: First Secretary General Raul Prebisch: called for reform of the system of international trade based on liberalism and comparative advantage, in order to assist the development of poor countries, included calls for a GSP and IPC (see also NIEO)

War: legitimate use of organized violence or force to achieve “goods” (also see conflict)

zero-sum game: one actors’ gain is another’s loss

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Major Rivers in India

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8 April 2020

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

Various FInancial Sector And External Sector Keywords in News

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7 April 2020

Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

ISRO and its Missions/Important Submarines in News

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6 April 2020

ISRO and its Mission in News

1.RISAT-2B: An all-seeing radar imaging satellite

• The PSLV-C46 is set to launch RISAT-2B from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

RISAT Constellation

• RISAT-2B, short for “Radar Imaging Satellite-2B”, is the second in a series of satellites used to observe weather conditions on Earth using radar imagery.
• RISAT-2 was the first satellite in the series, launched for the purpose of surveillance. RISAT-1 was launched later, to become India’s first all-weather radar imaging satellite.
• RISAT-2B is to be followed by RISAT-2BR1, 2BR2, RISAT-1A, 1B, 2A and so on.
• ISRO orbited its first two radar satellites in 2009 & 2012 and it plans to deploy four or five of them in 2019 alone.
• A constellation of such space-based radars means a comprehensive vigil over the country.
• Once operational, the satellite will be capable of monitoring weather day and night, in all weather conditions.

2.Phase 4 of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

• The Union Cabinet has approved ongoing GSLV continuation programme Phase-4 consisting of five GSLV flights during the period 2021-2024.
• The will enable the launch of 2 tonne class of satellites for Geo-imaging, Navigation, Data Relay Communication and Space Sciences.
• It will meet the demand for the launch of satellites at a frequency up to two launches per year, with maximal participation by the Indian industry.

About GSLV

• GSLV Continuation Programme was initially sanctioned in 2003, and two phases have been completed and the third phase is in progress and expected to be completed by Q4 of 2020-21.
• GSLV has enabled independent access to space for 2 tonne class of satellites to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
• One of the significant outcomes of the GSLV Continuation Programme is the mastering of the highly complex cryogenic propulsion technology, which is an essential technological capability to launch communication satellites to GTO.
• This has also paved the way for the development of a high thrust Cryogenic engine & stage for the next-generation launch vehicle i.e. GSLV Mk-lll.
• With the recent successful launch of GSLV-F11 on 19th December 2018, GSLV has successfully orbited 10 national satellites.
• GSLV with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage has established itself as a reliable launch vehicle for communication, navigation and meteorological satellites and also to undertake future interplanetary missions.

3.Mission Shakti (Anti-Satellite Missile Test)

• In an incremental advance, India has successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile test, named Mission Shakti.
• India becomes the fourth country in the world to demonstrate the capability to shoot down satellites in orbit.
• So far, only the United States, Russia and China have this prowess.

Mission Shakti

• While Mission Shakti may have targeted an object in outer space, India has long developed the ability to intercept incoming missiles.
• In 2011, a modified Prithvi missile mimicked the trajectory of a ballistic missile with a 600-km range.
• The DRDO-developed Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Interceptor Missile successfully engaged an Indian orbiting target satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in a ‘Hit to Kill’ mode.
• The interceptor missile was a three-stage missile with two solid rocket boosters.

4.Young Scientist Programme (YUVIKA)

Young Scientist Programme

• ISRO has launched a special programme for School Children called “Young Scientist Programme” “YUva VIgyani KAryakram from this year.
• The Program is primarily aimed at imparting basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of Space activities.
• The residential training programme will be of around two weeks duration during summer holidays and it is proposed to select 3 students each from each State/ UTs to participate in this programme covering state, CBSE, and ICSE syllabus.
• Those who have just finished 9th standard (in the academic year 2018-19) and waiting to join 10th standard (or those who have started 10th Std just now) will be eligible for the programme.
• The selection will be based on the 8th Std marks.
• Students belonging to the rural area have been given special weightage in the selection criteria.

5.PSLV-C45/ Emisat Mission

• For the sheer number of ‘firsts’ to its credit, the scheduled PSLV-C45/Emisat mission scheduled will be a memorable one for the ISRO.

PSLV-C45/Emisat

• C-45, which is set for lift-off from the second launchpad at Sriharikota, will mark the 47th flight of the PSLV.
• It is meant for electromagnetic spectrum measurements, according to the ISRO.
• It will be released into an orbit at 749 km.
• EMISAT is primarily based on on the famous Israeli spy satellite called SARAL or (Satellite with ARgos and ALtika), and inherits its SSB-2 bus protocol for conducting sharp electronic surveillance across the length and breadth of India.
• The satellite would serve as the country’s roving device for detecting and gathering electronic intelligence from enemy radars across the borders as it circles the globe roughly pole to pole every 90 minutes or so.
• For the third successive PSLV mission, the ISRO plans to reuse the rocket’s spent fourth stage or PS4 to host short experiments.

6.ISRO, French agency to set up a maritime surveillance system

• ISRO and its French counterpart CNES has sealed an agreement to set up a joint maritime surveillance system in the country.
• The two nations will explore putting up a constellation of low-Earth orbiting satellites.

Oceansat-3-Argos Mission

• The system will be augmented with the launch of Oceansat-3-Argos mission in 2020 along with a joint infrared Earth-observation satellite.
• These will identify and track the movement of ships globally – and in particular, those moving in the Indian Ocean region where France has its Reunion Islands.
• Before that, they will initially share data from their present space systems and develop new algorithms to analyse them, according to the Paris based National Centre for Space Studies.
• They work together for the design and development of joint products and techniques, including those involving Automatic Identification System (AIS), to monitor and protect the assets in land and sea.

7. Use of Space Technology in Agriculture Sector

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been pro-active in using the space technology in the agricultural sector. Take a look of various initiative in the aid of farmers:

Various institutional measures

1. The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare established a Centre, called Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre, in 2012.
2. It works for operationalization of the space technology developed in the Indian Space Research Organization, for crop production forecasting.
3. The Soil and Land Use Survey of India uses satellite data for soil resources mapping.

8. India’s communication satellite GSAT-31 launched successfully

GSAT-31

1. It was launched in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 250 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 35,850 km, inclined at an angle of 3.0 degree to the equator.
2. With a lift-off mass of 2536 kg, GSAT-31 will augment the Ku-band transponder capacity in Geostationary Orbit.
3. The satellite will provide continuity to operational services on some of the in-orbit satellites.
4. GSAT-31 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-exchange, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications.
5. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of emerging telecommunication applications.
6. It is India’s 40th communication satellite which is configured on ISRO’s enhanced ‘I-2K Bus’, utilising the maximum “bus capabilities” of this type.

9.ISRO launches Human Space Flight Centre in Bengaluru

Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC)

1. The HSFC, the hub of ISRO’s future manned missions, was inaugurated at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.
2. Announced on August 15 2018, the country’s first crewed mission is set to happen by 2022, the 75th year of Independence.
3. HSFC shall be responsible for the implementation of Gaganyaan project — which involves mission planning, development of engineering systems for crew survival in space, crew selection and training and also pursue activities for sustained human space flight missions.
4. HSFC will take the support of ISRO centres to implement the first developmental [crewed] flight.

10.ISRO’s first mission of 2019 to put military satellite Microsat-R in space

• ISRO’s first mission of 2019 will put into space a 130-kg military imaging satellite, Microsat-R.
• C-44 will be launched from the older First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

 Details of Launch

1. The satellite would be placed within 15 minutes after take-off in a polar orbit 274 km away from Earth.
2. This is much lower than any of its civil Earth observation spacecraft, which fly pole to pole over the globe at between 400 km and 700 km.

Payload Details

Microsat-R

1. Microsat-R and its payload come assembled from a handful of laboratories of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
2. It is meant for military use.
3. The satellite was assembled outside and ISRO only interfaced it” with its own systems and the launch vehicle, just as it treats any customer satellite.

11.Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly & Training Programme of ISRO

NNATI Programme

1. It is a capacity-building programme on Nanosatellite development.
2. It is an initiative by ISRO to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations conference on the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space (UNISPACE-50).
3. The programme provides opportunities to the participating developing countries to strengthen in assembling, integrating and testing of Nanosatellite.
4. UNNATI programme is planned to be conducted for 3 years by U.R. Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO in 3 batches and will target to benefit officials of 45 countries.

About UNISPACE+50

1. It is an event marking the 50th year of the first UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
2. It is an initiative of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
3. Three such conferences held earlier recognized the potential of space and laid the guidelines for human activities and international cooperation related to outer space.

11.ISRO successfully launches hyperspectral imaging satellite HysIS

HysIS

1. HysIS stands for Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite.
2. The objective of the probe is to provide observations within the visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.
3. The imaging tools will help the HysIS satellite monitor atmospheric activity and climate change, while also assisting studies of Earth’s magnetic field.
4. These observations will have a host of applications, prime among which relate to agriculture, forestry, water management, and coastal patterns.
5. The satellite’s payload also consists of a 730W power backup, and a 64Ah Li-ion battery.
6. It will continue to make observations until 2023 when the mission ends.
7. After this launch, the next big event for the Indian space organisation will be its awaited mission to the moon – Chandrayaan-2 – in early 2019.

12.GROWTH-India telescope’s first science observation

GROWTH-India Telescope

1. The GROWTH-India telescope was commissioned six months ago soon after which it saw first light, on the night of June 12.
2. It is part of a multi-country collaborative initiative – known as the Global Relay of Observatories Watching Transients Happen (GROWTH) – to observe transient events in the universe.
3. The fully robotic telescope is designed to capture cosmic events occurring over relatively shorter periods of the cosmological timescale: years, days and even hours.
4. Universities and research institutes from the US, the UK, Japan, India, Germany, Taiwan and Israel are part of the initiative.
5. Their primary research objective is time-domain astronomy, which entails the study of explosive transients and variable sources (of light and other radiation) in the universe.

13.ISRO telemedicine nodes for soldiers in high-altitude areas

Telemedicine Nodes by ISRO

1. In a major effort to improve emergency medical support to soldiers posted in high-altitude areas, especially Siachen, the Integrated Defence Staff of the Defence Ministry and the ISRO signed an MoU to set up telemedicine nodes in critical places across the country.
2. ISRO will establish 53 more nodes in the first phase over and above the existing 20, in various establishments of the Army, Navy and Air Force across the country.

14.Chandrayaan-1 data confirms the presence of ice on Moon: NASA

NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is testimony

1. M3, aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, launched in 2008 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was uniquely equipped to confirm the presence of solid ice on the Moon.
2. Scientists used data from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument to identify three specific signatures that definitively prove there is water ice at the surface of the Moon.
3. It collected data that not only picked up the reflective properties we would expect from ice, but was also able to directly measure the distinctive way its molecules absorb infrared light, so it can differentiate between liquid water or vapour and solid ice.
4. Most of the new-found water ice lies in the shadows of craters near the poles, where the warmest temperatures never reach above minus 156 degrees Celsius.
5. Due to the very small tilt of the Moon’s rotation axis, sunlight never reaches these regions.

15.ISRO set to launch its TV channel

1. The ISRO is all set for a year-long Vikram Sarabhai centenary celebration starting in August 2019 to honour the visionary scientist and its legendary founding father.
2. In a few months’ time, it plans to roll out a dedicated ISRO TV channel showcasing space applications, developments and science issues, targeting young viewers and people in remote areas in their language.

Satellite launches now open to public

1. As it strengthens its public outreach, ISRO will shortly start allowing the public to watch satellite launches from its Sriharikota launch centre.
2. Selected students of classes 8 to 10 will be trained at ISRO for a month and taken to various laboratories and centres across the country.

Vikram Sarabhai- the legend

1. Sarabhai, the architect of the Indian space programme, the first ISRO chief and renowned cosmic ray scientist, was born on August 12, 1919.
2. ISRO’s tributes to Sarabhai start with naming the first Indian moon landing spacecraft of the Chandrayaan-2 mission ‘Vikram’.
3. Sarabhai was only 28 when he sowed the seeds of a space agency around the late 1940s and 1950s.

16. Upgraded Vikas engine will soon boost ISRO’s rockets

Adding more thrust

1. The Vikas engine will improve the payload capability of PSLV, GSLV and GSLV Mk-III launch vehicles.
2. The space agency has improved the thrust of the Vikas engine that powers all of them.

Main beneficiary: GSLV Mk III

1. The main beneficiary of the high-thrust Vikas engine is said to be the heavy-lifting GSLV-Mark III launcher, which ISRO expects will now put 4,000-kg satellites to space.
2. This would be the third Mk-III and the first working one to be designated Mk III Mission-1 or M1.
3. The first MkIII of June 2017 started with a 3,200-kg satellite and the second one is being readied for lifting a 3,500-kg spacecraft.
4. The Vikas engine is used in the second stage of the light lifting PSLV; the second stage and the four add-on stages of the medium-lift GSLV; and the twin-engine core liquid stage of Mk-III.

17.ISRO’s PRL scientists discover an ‘EPIC’ planet

India in elite planet-spotting club

1. A team from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, has spotted for the first time a distant planet six times bigger than Earth and revolving around a Sun-like star about 600 light-years away.
2. EPIC 211945201b (or K2-236b) is the name given to the planet by the discovery team. The host star is named EPIC 211945201 or K2-236.
3. With this discovery, India has joined a handful of countries which have discovered planets around stars,” PRL’s parent ISRO has announced.
4. The discovery was made using a PRL-designed spectrograph, PARAS, to measure and confirm the mass of the new planet.

About EPIC

1. EPIC was found circling very close to the Sun-like star, going around it once in about 19.5 days and unlikely to be inhabitable because of its high surface temperature of around 600°C.
2. The team found the planet to be smaller in size than Saturn and bigger than Neptune.
3. Its mass is about 27 times Earth’s and six times that of Earth at the radius.
4. The scientists estimate that over 60% of its mass could be made up of heavy elements like ice, silicates and iron.

GSAT-30 spacecraft

1. India’s telecommunication satellite GSAT-30 was successfully launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on January 17, 2020, from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-251.
2. GSAT-30 is configured on ISRO’s enhanced I-3K Bus structure to provide communication services from Geostationary orbit in C and Ku bands. The satellite derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series.
3. Weighing 3357 kg, GSAT-30 is to serve as a replacement to INSAT-4A spacecraft services with enhanced coverage. The satellite provides Indian mainland and islands coverage in Ku-band and extended coverage in C-band covering Gulf countries, a large number of Asian countries and Australia.
4. The designed in-orbit operational life of GSAT-30 is more than 15 years.

Important Submarines in News:

1. Indian Naval ship Sahyadri reaches Darwin, Australia for exercise KAKADU 2018

Exercise KAKADU

1. After having been deployed to the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean for over four months, which included representing Indian Navy in multinational exercises MALABAR 18 at Guam and RIMPAC 18 at Hawaii, INS Sahyadri entered the Port of Darwin, Australia to participate in Exercise KAKADU 2018
2. Indian Navy’s participation in KAKADU 18 provides an excellent opportunity to engage with regional partners and undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment
3. It is aimed at enhancing interoperability and development of common understanding of procedures for maritime operations

About the exercise

1. Exercise KAKADU, which started in 1993, is the premier multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)
2. The exercise is held biennially in Darwin and the Northern Australian Exercise Areas (NAXA)
3. Exercise KAKADU derives its name from Kakadu National Park, which is a protected area in the northern territory of Australia, 171 km south-east of Darwin
4. KAKADU 2018 is the 14th edition of the exercise
5. During the exercise, professional exchanges in harbour and diverse range of activities at sea, including complex surface, sub-surface and air operations would enable sharing of best practices and honing of operational skills.

2.Operation NISTAR Successfully Culminates with Safe Disembarkations of 38 Indian Nationals at Porbandar

Operation NISTAR

• INS Sunayana successfully evacuated 38 Indian Nationals at/ off Socotra Islands during a swift Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Operation (HADR), code named Operation NISTAR.
• The Indian Nationals were stranded after severe Cyclonic Storm – Mekunu devastated the area around Socotra Island.
• INS Sunayana was diverted from Gulf of Aden deployment to Socotra Island for search and rescue operations.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in India’s National Strategy

• HADR operations have attracted the attention of the global community in recent years.
• The Indian armed forces have a wide experience of disaster relief operations both at home and abroad, where they have been the core of relief operations.
• Due to its sub-continental size, geographical location and its vulnerability to disasters, India has kept its forces ready to render assistance at short notice.
• In the six decades since independence, India has experienced a number of natural and man-made disasters such as floods, earthquakes, famines, industrial accidents etc.
• At the same time, India has partnered the global community in providing relief in affected regions.

3.INS Karanj boosts Navy’s firepower

Third Scorpene class submarine joins Naval fleet

1. The Navy’s third state-of-the-art Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, has been launched
2. The new submarine is named after the earlier Kalvari class INS Karanj, which was decommissioned in 2003
3. This launch follows the launch of the first two Scorpene submarines — INS Kalavari and INS Khanderi.

4.Indian Navy inducts its first Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle

• The Indian Navy has inducted its first Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) System at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

About DSRV

1. DSRV is used to rescue crew members stranded in submarines that get disabled. The Indian Navy joins a select group of naval forces in the world that boasts of this niche capability.
2. The DSRV can be operated at a depth of 650 meters and can hold around 15 people.
3. The Indian Navy in March 2016 had commissioned two DSRVs, the second will deployed at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.
4. The induction of the DSRV marks the culmination of years of effort of the Indian Navy in acquiring this niche submarine rescue capability.

Why need DSRV System?

1. The Indian Navy currently operates submarines of the Sindhughosh, Shishumar, Kalvari Classes as well as nuclear powered submarines.
2. The operating medium and the nature of operations undertaken by submarines expose them to high degree of inherent risk.
3. In such an eventuality, traditional methods of search and rescue at sea are ineffective for a disabled submarine.
4. To overcome this capability gap the Navy has acquired a third generation, advanced Submarine Rescue System considering of a Non-tethered Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) and its associated equipment.

What makes Indian DSRV special?

1. The Indian Navy’s DSRV System is considered to be the most advanced system currently in operation globally for its capability of undertaking rescue from a disabled Submarine upto 650 m depth.
2. It is operated by a crew of three, can rescue 14 personnel from a disabled Submarine at one time and can operate in extreme sea conditions.

5.Indian Navy’s Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) Capability

Context

• The Indian Navy has inducted a Submarine Rescue System with a Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) along with associated equipment.

Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV)

1. The Indian DSRV has the capability to rescue personnel from a distressed submarine (DISSUB) up to a depth of 650 m and it is the latest in terms of technology and capabilities.
2. It has been designed and supplied to meet unique requirements of our submarines by M/s James Fishes Defence, UK.
3. This System has a Side Scan Sonar for locating the position of the submarine in distress at sea.
4. It will be providing immediate relief by way of posting Emergency Life Support Containers with the help of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for the rescue.
5. To ensure early mobilization, the System permits rapid transportation of the Rescue System from the base to the exact location of the distressed submarine by transportation using air/land/sea vessels.